Katy Perry’s Spaceflight: The Truth Inside the Capsule

All smiles for Katy Perry after a successful NS-31 mission to space. (14 April, 2025. Credit: Blue Origin)

Pop icon Katy Perry featured among six women who travelled aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket for a controversial all-female sub-orbital spaceflight earlier this month. 

The mission - known as NS-31- happened on 14 April and was part of a pioneering space tourism initiative. 

NS-31 lasted approximately 10 minutes and reached the Kármán line; the boundary of space, 62 miles above Earth. Perry was joined by journalist Gayle King, entrepreneur Lauren Sánchez, former NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, scientist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

During the flight, the crew experienced several minutes of weightlessness. Perry held a daisy in tribute to her daughter, Daisy Dove, and sang part of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” 

After safely landing in the Chihuahuan Desert, Perry participated in a press conference with her fellow crew members and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. 

Despite the mission’s success, it has sparked a great deal of controversy, with critics and online conspiracy theorists claiming the flight was staged and a lavish publicity stunt. 

Many have criticised the mission’s feminist messaging, suggesting it was “pinkwashed” and insincere, particularly due to Bezos’ political donations to anti-abortion candidates. 

Actress Olivia Munn described the mission as ‘gluttonous’, questioning its appropriateness when many people struggle to afford basic necessities. 

A moment the media found particularly intriguing was the opening of the capsule door once the crew had landed. 

A viral video shows the door opening from the inside, before being hastily closed again, and re-opened with difficulty by a tool-wielding Jeff Bezos. 

While many conspiracy theorists seized on this detail - suggesting a mistake in the staging of the spaceflight - there is no credible evidence to support such claims. 

NASA has clarified that the door opening from the inside is a standard procedure for Blue Origin’s design. Unlike traditional space capsules that land in the ocean or more remote locations, Blue Origin’s New Shepard is designed to return to land on solid ground, making it easier for passengers to exit the capsule without waiting for external forces to open it.

Bezos’ involvement in opening the capsule door was likely to be nothing more than a photo op. 

Online tension has continued to build after Perry incorporated elements of her spaceflight into her "Lifetimes" tour, sporting a silver bodysuit and referencing her adventure in space. 

Ultimately, whether viewed as a groundbreaking achievement or a publicity stunt to draw attention to her tour, Perry’s space trip has instigated important conversations about the intersection of space tourism, celebrity involvement and social responsibility.