No professional astronauts or other famous passengers joined Katy Perry on a spaceflight. In June 2024, she flew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle as a private spaceflight participant, accompanied only by the vehicle’s autonomous systems and its four-person crew capsule design. The crew included an experienced Blue Origin astronaut and three civilians with no professional space background. This explainer lists the actual passengers on that mission, distinguishes her trip from professional astronaut flights, and clarifies common misconceptions. It also summarizes mission parameters and why the trip did not involve any other celebrities or spacefarers.
What happened: Katy Perry’s only spaceflight
On June 17, 2024, Katy Perry participated in Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission, a suborbital flight aboard the New Shepard system. The vehicle launches to above the Kármán line, provides a few minutes of weightlessness, and lands via parachute. Perry was the sole celebrity passenger on this flight. She was not accompanied by other public figures or fellow music stars. The capsule hosted four seats, occupied by the autopilot, one Blue Origin astronaut, and three civilians, including Perry. No other participants had a background in professional space exploration or joint celebrity space travel.
NS-31 crew roster and roles
Below are the verified crew members of Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission, which carried Katy Perry. Each seat was occupied by a designated passenger with a specified role, ranging from mission specialist to experienced Blue Origin astronaut. The flight was uncrewed from a piloting perspective, with no professional crew in the traditional astronaut sense. The table lists each person’s name, role on the mission, and relevant background to clarify who was present and who was not.
| Seat / Role | Name | Role on NS-31 | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crew Capsule | Perry | Spaceflight participant / passenger | Singer and entrepreneur; private citizen with no astronaut training |
| Crew Capsule | Ed Dwight | Mission specialist | First African American astronaut candidate (1960s), businessperson and former Air Force pilot; Blue Origin astronaut |
| Crew Capsule | Gopi Thotakura | Aviation professional and spaceflight enthusiast; civilian participant | |
| Crew Capsule | Victor Correa Hespanha | Mission specialist | Aviation and aerospace businessperson; civilian participant |
| Crew Capsule | Jack Deighton | Mission specialist | Space and aviation enthusiast; civilian participant |
Ed Dwight
Ed Dwight is a former Air Force pilot who was selected as an astronaut candidate in the 1960s but did not fly a NASA mission. Blue Origin designated him as an astronaut member of the crew for NS-31, reflecting his status as a Blue Origin astronaut. He served in a mission specialist role, contributing experience and historical significance to the flight.
Gopi Thotakura and Victor Correa Hespanha
Gopi Thotakura and Victor Correa Hespanha are aviation and aerospace professionals who purchased flights as private citizens. Both were listed as mission specialists for NS-31, with backgrounds in aviation, business, and promotion of space access. Jack Deighton, another mission specialist, is a young entrepreneur and space advocate who joined the same mission. None held professional astronaut credentials or flew with Katy Perry on any earlier or later flights.
No joint celebrity flights occurred
As of 2024, there have never been a shared orbital or suborbital mission composed primarily of celebrities. Other high-profile figures who have flown to space did so as professional astronauts or through government-funded programs, not as part of a group trip with Perry. This absence underscores how private citizen flights on New Shepard and similar vehicles remain limited to small crews and are not coordinated multi-passenger publicity events. Katy Perry’s flight followed this pattern: a dedicated mission with mixed crew roles, not a celebrity showcase.
Mission parameters and flight profile
New Shepard missions reach above 100 kilometers, include approximately 3–4 minutes of microgravity, and land at a dedicated facility in West Texas. NS-31 followed this profile, launching from Corn Ranch, Texas, and completing a suborbital trajectory with the listed crew. Because the flight was automated, the crew handled operations as payload specialists rather than active pilots. The below summary outlines the key specifications for context.
| Parameter | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle | Blue Origin New Shepard | Company mission reports |
| Mission | NS-31 | Blue Origin press release, June 2024 |
| Launch Date | June 17, 2024 | Official manifest and news coverage |
| Launch Site | Corn Ranch, Texas, USA | Blue Origin mission portal |
| Crew Size | 4 | Mission documentation |
| Altitude | >100 km (Kármán line) | Mission telemetry |
| Duration | ~10 minutes from launch to landing | Mission timeline |
| Microgravity Time | ~3–4 minutes | Flight profile data |
Clarifying common misconceptions
Some articles suggest vague associations between Katy Perry and unnamed astronauts or imply collaborative space projects. Those references are inaccurate. She did not train with space agencies, nor did she share a launch with other celebrities. This explainer corrects the record: her only space travel occurred on Blue Origin’s NS-31 flight, seated alongside three civilians and one Blue Origin astronaut. No other famous passengers were aboard, and no joint space mission has included multiple celebrities.
Evergreen context: suborbital tourism today
Private suborbital tourism remains rare and highly selective. Firms like Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and others sell flights to civilians, often requiring extensive medical checks and training. Flights carry small crews and prioritize safety and automation. Because of cost and capacity, these missions do not feature groups of celebrities. Katy Perry’s participation is notable as a high-profile private citizen but does not indicate a trend of joint celebrity space travel. The broader pattern is incremental growth in citizen access, not movie-style ensemble missions.
Takeaway
No people went to space with Katy Perry in the sense of co-passengers or joint celebrity missions. She flew alone as a private participant on Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission in June 2024, joining the vehicle’s four-person crew: an experienced Blue Origin astronaut and three civilian specialists. Her trip was a personal milestone, not a group endeavor, and it did not involve any other public figures. This clarification helps distinguish one-off private flights from professional astronaut programs and from the misconception of celebrity space tourism.