Photo Credit: Getty Images
For the first time in history, an all-female crew is set to venture beyond the Earth's atmosphere aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. The highly anticipated mission, expected to launch this spring, marks a major milestone in space exploration and gender representation in the final frontier.
Among the six distinguished crew members are journalist Gayle King, global pop sensation Katy Perry, and bioastronautics scientist Amanda Nguyen. Joining them are Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist and CEO of STEMBoard, as well as film producer and philanthropist Kerianne Flynn. Rounding out the team is Lauren Sánchez, pilot, journalist, and vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, who played a key role in assembling this groundbreaking crew.
The mission, dubbed NS-31, is the 11th time Blue Origin will send humans past the Kármán line—the internationally recognized boundary of space. The company has yet to confirm the exact launch date, but the significance of this mission is clear. It will be the first all-female spaceflight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova's pioneering solo journey in 1963.
Nguyen, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and advocate for sexual violence survivors, will also make history as the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman astronaut. This momentous journey represents a shift in the traditionally male-dominated space industry, proving that the sky is no longer the limit for women in STEM and beyond.
As space tourism continues to expand, the representation of women in orbit is growing. Last November, Emily Calandrelli, an MIT engineer and TV host, became the 100th woman to venture into space. With this upcoming mission, Blue Origin is making strides toward an inclusive future, inspiring generations of young girls to reach for the stars.
