Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Katy Perry, Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez are headed to space aboard one of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket ships.
The three will also be joined by Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist; Amanda Nguyen, a civil rights activist; and Kerianne Flynn, a movie producer. The group will take off in the New Shepard spacecraft from the company’s West Texas base this spring. An exact date has not yet been set.
The forthcoming mission will be Blue Origin’s 11th mission and its first all-female crew.
Sánchez, Bezos’ fiancée, is said to have “brought the mission together,” according to Blue Origin.
“[Sanchez] is honored to lead a team of explorers on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come,” the company said in a statement.
Since the New Shepard is a fully autonomous spacecraft, “every person on board is a crew member — there are no pilots.”
“This flight will undoubtedly prove to be a life-changing experience for each of us, and I’m honored to be with such an incredible group of explorers,” Sánchez said. “Most importantly, I am looking forward to all the women in this crew sharing their story and inspiring future generations to dream big.”
During their 11-minute journey, they will fly past the Kármán line, which is an internationally recognized border between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
The news comes weeks after Blue Origin announced that it would be laying off 10 percent of its workforce.
“Our primary focus in 2025 and beyond is to scale our manufacturing output and launch cadence with speed, decisiveness, and efficiency for our customers. We grew and hired incredibly fast in the last few years, and with that growth came more bureaucracy and less focus than we needed,” CEO Dave Limp wrote in an email obtained by The Independent.
“It also became clear that the makeup of our organization must change to ensure our roles are best aligned with executing these priorities. Sadly, this resulted in eliminating some positions in engineering, R&D, and program/project management and thinning out our layers of management.”
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Blue Origin has been trying to make gains in the industry dominated by its rival SpaceX, which recently landed a $40 million NASA contract as its CEO and founder Elon Musk, the head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, called for significant funding cuts to parts of the government.
Last month, Blue Origin launched its first successful flight since 2022, carrying six tourists. The brief suborbital trip ended a nearly two-year pause in crewed operations after a mission failure in 2022.
