Blue Origin has scheduled the launch of its NS-31 New Shepard mission for Monday, 14 April. Liftoff is planned for 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) from Launch Site One in West Texas, approximately 50 kilometres north of Van Horn.
The NS-31 mission will carry six women, including Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, and Kerianne Flynn. This marks the first time Blue Origin is flying an all-female crew on a suborbital spaceflight.
A live broadcast of the launch will be available on BlueOrigin.com, the company’s YouTube and X accounts, as well as Space.com. The stream is scheduled to begin roughly 15 minutes before liftoff, though it may shift if launch timing changes.
The NS-31 mission will last approximately 11 minutes. The rocket will separate from its capsule around 2 minutes 40 seconds after liftoff. The capsule will cross the Kármán line (100 kilometres altitude), providing a few minutes of weightlessness before descent.
While liftoff is targeted for a specific time, weather conditions or technical issues may delay the launch. The window can extend by over an hour if needed. Any changes would also affect the timing of the livestream.
The New Shepard booster is expected to perform a vertical landing about 7.5 minutes after launch. The crew capsule will return separately under parachutes and land softly in the desert near the launch site.
The crew includes individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, such as science, media, music, and aerospace. Notably, Amanda Nguyen is a bioastronautics researcher, Aisha Bowe is a former NASA engineer, and Katy Perry is participating as a high-profile public figure.