Who owns Blue Origin and how much does it cost to go into space? Answers to your questions
All eyes are on Texas Monday morning, April 14, as six women, including Katy Perry and Gayle King, prepare to head into space.
Blue Origin will send an all-female crew of six people more than 60 miles high from it's launch site in Texas. It'll be the first all-female space crew in more than 60 years, Blue Origin said.
A livestream is available to watch the launch. The launch windows opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
Here are a few answers to questions being asked about Blue Origin.
Six women were selected to be part of the next Blue Origin commercial spaceflight, a mission known as NS-31.
➤ Live updates: Katy Perry, Gayle King ready for orbit
Here's who will be on board:
Aisha Bowe: a former NASA rocket scientist, CEO of engineering firm STEMBoard and founder of LINGO, which teaches students technology skills.
Kerianne Flynn: A film producer known for her contributions to "This Changes Everything," a 2018 documentary about sexism in Hollywood.
Gayle King: A journalist and television personality best known as a co-host of "CBS Mornings."
Amanda Nguyen: A prominent civil rights activist and bioastronautics research scientist who worked on the last NASA space shuttle mission, STS-135, and the U.S. space agency's exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope.
Katy Perry: A pop music artist and former host of "American Idol."
Lauren Sánchez: An Emmy Award-winning journalist who is the fiancée of Bezos.
A livestream of the launch will be available to watch via USA TODAY. The launch window opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
You also can watch:
Blue Origin's website
Blue Origin also providing YouTube simulcast
Blue Origin's X account, coverage begins at 8 a.m. EDT
CBS covering live with special segment "Gayle goes to to Space" through its streaming service Paramount+, coverage begins at 8 a.m. EDT
Flight suits have come a long way since Alan Shepard and Neil Armstrong slipped one on, with help.
The suits being worn today by the NS-31 crew were designed to be "flattering and sexy," according to a story published by the New York Times.
Lauren Sánchez, the journalist and author who organized the flight, recruited designer Monse to reimagine Blue Origin's flight suits, space.com said.
"I think the suits are elegant, but they also bring a little spice to space," Sánchez told the New York Times. Blue Origin's polyester flights suits are blue with some black highlights around the knees, elbows, shoulders and torso.
The Monse Blue Origin flight suits are sleeker and made of "flame-resistant stretch neoprene," according to the New York Times. They were designed by Monse co-founders Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim.
"Simplicity was important, and comfort, and fit," Garcia told the New York Times. "But we also wanted something that was a little dangerous, like a motocross outfit. Or a ski suit. Flattering and sexy."
Blue Origin is owned by Jeff Bezos, who founded the company in 2000. The billionaire also founded Amazon in 1994 and owns the Washington Post.
According to Forbes's 2025 annual Billionaries List, Bezos, 61, was the third richest person in the world, worth an estimated $215 billion as of March 7.
➤ Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg top Forbes' richest people in world. Who else made the list?
Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle will head to a point 62 miles over the Earth. The New Shepard consists of both a rocket and crew capsule.
Named after astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, the gum drop-shaped New Shepard launch vehicle is designed to be fully reusable, with a capsule that returns to Earth via three parachutes.
The flight lasts about 11 minutes from liftoff to capsule touchdown.
➤ Will New Shepard actually go into space?
The Kármán Line is 62 miles high. It's the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Each spaceflight lasts about 11 minutes, giving passengers to experience a few minutes of weightlessness while in microgravity.
The pressurized capsule has large windows — among the largest windows to have flown in space —for those onboard to enjoy the view of Earth.
That is a good question, and it's one that isn't posted on Blue Origin's website. A $150,000 deposit is required.
To board a flight, future "astronauts" do need to be 18 years or older to fly and must fill out some information on Blue Origin's website, including "tell us about yourself."
Some people have paid nothing, such as actor William Shatner, according to the Observer. In June 2021, Blue Origin auctioned off a seat for its maiden flight for $28 million.
New Shepard does not have pilots on board. The capsule is designed to separate from the rocket at any point and parachute to a safe landing.
Spaceflights were paused for nearly two years when the rocket was grounded in September 2022 after a failed mission without a crew on board. Flights resumed in May 2024 after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the company to make 21 corrective actions.
The spacecraft being used Monday, April 14, is the same one 48 others have ridden to space in since 2021.
Blue Origin has offered commercial spaceflights since 2021. Bezos was on board for the first flight, along with his brother, Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Mary Wallace "Wally" Funk.
Other notable people who have flown on Blue Origin include:
"Star Trek" actor William Shatner, who became the oldest person to reach space at 90
NFL legend Michael Strahan
Laura Shepard Churchley, Alan Shepard's daughter
tech CEO Dylan Taylor
venture capitalist Lane Bess and his child, Cameron Bess
Carol Schaller, a retired certified public accountant who had at the time traveled to 25 countries after learning she would go blind
➤ See list of everyone who has flown on Blue Origin
"The feather represents our relentless pursuit of the perfection of flight and the promise of a graceful and safe return to planet Earth, just like a feather's gentle descent through our precious atmosphere," Blue Origin said on its website.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, Eric Lagatta, USA Today Network
This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Blue Origin owned Jeff Bezos. Cost to fly into space. How high
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