On Tuesday morning, the pop icon became one of six all-female crew members aboard Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission — the company’s eleventh human spaceflight, spearheaded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The rocket launched from the company’s West Texas facility at precisely 8:30 a.m. local time, reaching the Kármán line — the recognized edge of space at 62 miles above sea level — before safely descending back to the desert floor.
Perry’s co-passengers included veteran journalist Gayle King, former NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, human rights activist Amanda Nguyen, Hollywood producer Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez, Bezos’ fiancée and occasional co-pilot.
But it was Perry who stole the spotlight — again — when, moments after exiting the capsule, she knelt dramatically and kissed the ground in front of cameras and cheering fans. She also clutched a plush daisy — a nod to her daughter Daisy Dove — and held it up as if she had returned from Mars instead of a brief joyride to the stratosphere.
“It was the highest I’ve ever been, emotionally and physically,” Perry told reporters, adding that the journey inspired her to begin work on a new album tentatively titled Gravity of Love.
According to a Blue Origin staffer who asked to remain anonymous, Perry requested that a special speaker system be installed aboard the capsule to play unreleased ballads during the flight. The plan was scrapped due to “technical incompatibility with outer space audio standards.”
But while fans swooned over her celestial moment, Hollywood wasn’t as kind.
Within hours, Twitter (now rebranded as “X”) lit up with reactions — many of them biting. Actress Olivia Wilde reposted a meme of Perry’s face-down-on-the-dirt moment, captioning it: “Spend billions just to come back and kiss the thing you left. Classic.”
Comedian Mindy Kaling quipped: “I do that every Monday when I survive my kid’s school drop-off.”
Even Lady Gaga chimed in before deleting her comment. In a since-screenshot post, she wrote: “Sis, I’ve done ayahuasca trips longer than that.”
The backlash didn’t stop there. Critics questioned the mission’s purpose, calling it a glorified PR stunt for Blue Origin rather than a meaningful step toward space inclusion. Actress Olivia Munn voiced her concern on NBC’s Today with Jenna & Friends, saying: “There are children starving, the planet’s burning, and we’re celebrating celebrities floating for four minutes?”
Social media echoed similar skepticism. One trending post read: “Katy Perry left the Earth for 11 minutes and came back acting like she wrote Interstellar.”
Still, Perry seemed unfazed. In a follow-up Instagram Reel, she posted a slow-motion clip of her descent back to Earth, soundtracked by her 2011 hit E.T. with the caption: “Still glowing.”
According to Blue Origin, the NS-31 mission marks a milestone for the company’s commitment to gender representation in space tourism. But others remain unconvinced.
As one Reddit user aptly put it: “It’s not feminism if the only thing breaking through the atmosphere is your publicist’s ego.”
Whether history will remember Perry’s journey as a bold leap for womankind or just another celebrity detour remains to be seen. But for now, one thing is clear: the stars may be up there, but the real drama is still on Earth.
