Orlando Bloom holds hand over mouth as Katy Perry blasted into space

cheered on his pop icon wife as she officially left Earth – if only for 11 minutes – as for a suborbital journey to the edge of space.

The 40-year-old Teenage Dream singer launched into the skies alongside author Lauren Sanchez 55, broadcast legend Gayle King 70, civil rights advocate Amanda Nguyen 33, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe 38, and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, 57.

Their mission marks a historic milestone: the first all-female space crew since 1963, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova flew solo into orbit. Lifting off from Blue Origin’s launchpad in West Texas at 08:30 local time (14:30 BST), the New Shepard rocket carried the six passengers over 100km above sea level - crossing the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

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The brief but powerful journey includes around four minutes of weightlessness, giving the crew time to float, take in the vastness of Earth from the capsule’s panoramic windows, and reflect on their extraordinary moment before parachuting back down to solid ground.

As his wife and the mother of his child, Daisy, 4, jetted off to space, Orlando, 48, praised Katy for her once-in-a-lifetime mission. He looked on with his mouth open wide and hand over his face.

The Firework singer could be seen in the rocket as it pulled away from the gantry at the launch facilities in West Texas, before a countdown from mission control, then flames shot out of the bottom of the craft and it successfully launched into the air.

Mission control could be heard saying it “looks good” as the rocket reached “supersonic” as it soared into the skies, while Perry could be heard cheering onboard.

When she emerged from the New Shepard NS-31 rocket along with the six-woman crew, they were greeted by Jeff Bezos as they exited the ship. Katy raised her hands in the air before reaching down to kiss the floor.

Bezos then congratulated her to which she replied: “Thank you.”

Katy, who is among the ’s most-streamed artists with more than 115 billion global streams to her name, seemed thrilled to tick “space” off her list of achievements. Prior to launch, she shared a playful update, writing that she was about to “put the ‘ass’ in astronaut” - a cheeky nod to the sleek blue jumpsuits worn by the crew, designed by fellow passenger Lauren Sanchez.

Blue Origin shared images of the group’s final pre-flight preparations on Sunday, including shots of their last-minute astronaut training. Sanchez and Perry posed together in matching suits, clearly embracing the gravity of the moment - and the fun of it, too. With this journey, Katy and her fellow space travellers become the latest additions to a very exclusive club: as of today, only 100 women have officially been to space.

Sanchez, who has long been passionate about aviation, expressed her own amazement at the experience. “If someone would have told me that I would be able to go to space one day, I would have definitely, well, I don’t know, laughed,” she said in a video posted online. “I can’t believe it’s happening. My dad used to teach people how to fly, and I used to hang around the hangar and I thought dreaming of becoming a pilot was a huge deal, and this is even bigger.”

Reflecting on the mission’s broader impact, she added, “The incredible women that are going on this flight are extraordinary in all of their fields, but more importantly, they’re incredible storytellers. So what I’m hoping for is, this flight is not just transformative for them, but also for all of the people that they tell their story to. Hopefully it sparks that imagination to dream big and reach for the stars.”

Blue Origin, Bezos’ space tourism company, has been offering short suborbital flights since 2021. While some passengers have paid hefty sums for the ride, others — like Perry and her fellow flyers - have been invited to take part. Bezos himself flew on the rocket’s first-ever voyage, joined by his brother Mark, setting the stage for this new era of civilian space travel - one that, as of today, just got a little more glamorous.

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