On Apr. 14, 2025, Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin launched the first-ever all women seated spacecraft to the Kármán Line. This advertised ‘empowering event’ would document the Earth’s atmosphere and adventure to space for eleven minutes of weightless flight.
Blue Origin’s spacecraft, by the name of “Shepherd”, was boarded by six female celebriti
es: Amanda Nguyen (Civil Rights Activist), Lauren Sánchez (Jeff Bezos’ wife), Katy Perry (pop singer), Gayle King (journalist), Aisha Bowe (former NASA Scientist) and Kerianne Flynn (film producer). All women chosen for this launch were specifically selected with the intention to educate and empower the next generations of women in STEM.
In an interview with Phil Joyce, the senior vice president of Blue Origin, he stated, “Each of these women is a storyteller who will use their voices… creating a lasting impact that will inspire people across our planet for generations.”
But what exactly is the impact they are making? Ever since the landing, none of these women have followed up to continue the educational impact Blue Origin intended.
Back on Earth, one of the six women, pop star Katy Perry, kicked off her “Lifetime Tour” 10 days after landing.
I would argue that engaging in non- educational activities, after what was intended to be a flight to promote women in STEM and the Blue Origin company, fell counterproductive. If Blue Origin truly wanted to make an impact on the STEM field for women, they would have invited people like Katheryn Sullivan, Mae Jemison, and Shannon Lucid, all women who have made an impact for NASA and space explorations.
It’s important to note, the environmental impacts of the Shepherd’s launch are less than then a typical rocket, being fully reusable, which reduces the cost to go to space. If you are interested in the 11-minute ride, you can click here to sign up!…for the short price of $150,000, equating to the yearly salary of an upper-middle-class family.
It’s ironic, however, that the rocket used to break the first all women spacecraft record was named after a man.
Millikan’s Female Leadership Academy President Izabella Villalobos, a senior in COMPASS says, ”women in the flight crew should have used their experiences in the launch to reach younger audiences. They could have done this by speaking at schools or talking to kids, participating in activities that will educate the younger generations in the opportunities in the STEAM field.
The idea behind the flight did come from a good heart, however, what was displayed was not anywhere close to the empowering message Blue Origin intended for. As a women, it is very disheartening to see companies conduct “record breaking” activities for advertisement opposed to a good heart.
Alexander Alvarez • May 30, 2025 at 1:12 pm
Dear Corydon Editor,
On May 27th, 2025, Jamli wrote an article titled “Taking Up Space…For All The Wrong Reasons”. I like how it goes into detail about the effects of launch missions by Blue Origin, like the launch of 6 celebrities up into space to spread educational awareness and how it felt counterproductive to do so but I would like to know whether or not companies like Blue Origin are in it for the publicity or for actually improving the lives of everyone. I appreciate the inclusion of space images. I like the vast amount of information it provides about how the impact of launches like the Sheppard launch, but I would also like for articles like this one in particular, to include additional information about the impacts that it has on the STEM workforce.
To add on, this article does a good job at adding in the thoughts of a senior student who thinks that the women in the flight crew should have used their experiences in the launch to reach younger audiences. This article does an alright job at providing perspectives on the idea, like the thoughts of some people who believe the people in the flight crew should’ve used the rocket launch to promote STEM subjects. Furthermore, this article lacks insight about how this all came about, like how much did it cost to launch the rocket itself. However, this article does a good job at including in depth information about the counterproductivity of these space launches to promote a supposed good cause. All and all, this article is worth the read and provides enough insight about the Blue Origin rocket launch.