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Lauren Sanchez, who is engaged to Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos, was among those welcoming home Bezos and his crew after the company's first human spaceflight in 2019. Sanchez will now oversee a New Shepard suborbital flight of her own.
Blue Origin plans to fly the fiancee of owner Jeff Bezos, as well as singer Katy Perry, CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King and three other women on its next suborbital spaceflight, the company announced Feb. 27.
Bezos’ fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, 55, a helicopter pilot and founder of aerial film production company Black Ops Aviation, organized the flight, which is expected to take place this spring, Blue Origin said in a statement.
Joining Sanchez, Perry and King for Shepard-31 (NS-31) will be former NASA engineer and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) advocate Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
Sanchez “is honored to lead a team of explorers on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come,” Blue Origin said.
The company declined to say if it was charging for any of the seats. Pricing for the 10-min. ride, which reaches an altitude of about 66 mi., has not been disclosed.
NS-31 will be Blue Origin’s 11th crewed flight aboard New Shepard, a reusable suborbital system that debuted in 2015. Bezos flew on Blue Origin’s first crewed flight on July 20, 2021, along with his brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen, then an 18-year-old Dutch student whose father purchased the seat following a charity auction.
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