Blue Origin to launch first all female crew, launch record setting New Shepard year?

After being first reported over two years ago, Blue Origin has finally released details on its first all-female New Shepard mission, commanded by helicopter pilot, entrepreneur, and girlfriend of Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez.

The mission will be designated NS-31, which will be the next New Shepard flight from Blue Origin and the 11th human flight overall. On board will be, of course, Sánchez, but also CBS Mornings host Gayle King, former NASA scientist and STEM advocate Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, pop star Katy Perry, and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn.

No date has been given yet as to when NS-31 will fly; however, Blue Origin states the flight will take place no earlier than this spring.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is a suborbital single-stage rocket that is designed for microgravity research and space tourism. Tickets for a seat on the rocket have not been publicly disclosed but are believed to be north of a million dollars.

While teams at its West Texas site prepare for that mission, Blue Origin is also finishing its second New Glenn rocket on the East Coast. In January, Blue Origin successfully launched its first New Glenn rocket, an orbital heavy-lift rocket that aims to compete with SpaceX for commercial and government contracts. The mission was an overall success, a rarity in first rocket flights. Some of that success can be attributed to the company’s experience with New Shepard.

Blue Origin is hoping for four more New Glenn launches in 2025, two for its Blue Moon lander, one for NASA, and another for Amazon’s Kuiper satellite internet constellation. It’s unknown how many New Shepard flights Blue Origin plans to support in 2025. Last year, the company flew four New Shepard flights—three crewed and one with science payloads. However, NS-31 will already be New Shepard’s third flight so far this year, meaning we could see a record-setting year for the rocket.