The mountains of west Texas provided a stunning backdrop as the New Shepard launched this morning and returned to Earth roughly 10 minutes later.

Justin Hamel / Getty Images

Justin Hamel / Getty Images

Justin Hamel / Getty Images

Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s CEO, posted a group photo on X after the capsule touched down in Texas.

“What an amazing crew!” he wrote. “Great flight this morning.”

Bowe talked about the beauty of seeing Earth out of the capsule’s windows, saying there were no visible boundaries or borders as they peered at the planet.

“I will never be the same,” she said.

Bowe also described the connection she felt with her fellow crew members.

“You could just feel the energy in the capsule,” she said. “And when we got up there and we got out of our seats, we all just looked at each other. There was this moment — and I can’t wait for people to see it on the video — but there was a very special moment between all of us. And it’s just beautiful.”

The pop star rated her spaceflight experience a “10 out of 10,” describing it as a feeling that comes only second to becoming a mother.

“I feel super connected to love,” Perry said.

The singer shared that she brought a daisy with her to space, a nod to her daughter Daisy, but also as a symbol of something greater.

“Daisies are common flowers, but they grow through any condition,” Perry said. “They are resilient. They are powerful. They are strong.”

King described the feeling of quiet and peacefulness she experienced when weightless in space.

“And you look down at the planet, you think that’s where we came from,” she said. “And to me, it’s such a reminder about how we need to do better, be better.”

King also shared that Katy Perry sang “What a Wonderful World” in space. The other crew members were encouraging the pop star to sing one of her songs, but Perry insisted that the moment was not about her.

King, who has been open about her anxieties about flying, said she felt proud of herself for facing her fears.

“I stepped out of my comfort zone in a way that I never thought was possible for me,” she said. “And now that I’ve done it, I really do feel like I can take on anything.”

Nguyen and Flynn were emotional in describing their spaceflight experience.

Nguyen, who is an advocate for survivors of sexual violence, shared that she brought along a hospital wristband as a zero gravity indicator, which is a small item that astronauts bring on flights to signal (when it floats) that they have reached weightlessness.

“I’m so grateful to the thousands of people — the engineers, scientists, everyone — who has made this a reality,” Nguyen said.

Sánchez said her trip to space was not what she expected, saying Earth looked quiet but “also so alive.”

“I feel I don’t even know how much it’s going to change me,” she said, adding that she felt joy and gratefulness during the flight.

Bezos did the honors of opening the capsule’s hatch.

First out of the spacecraft was Lauren Sánchez, who embraced her fiancé. Katy Perry was next, kissing the ground as she exited, followed by a jubilant Amanda Nguyen and Aisha Bowe.

Gayle King was next out of the capsule, falling to her knees and also kissing the ground. Last out of the capsule was Kerianne Flynn, who threw her arms up and cheered.

Blue Origin said that the New Shepard crew reached an altitude of more than 346,000 feet, with the mission in total taking just more than 10 minutes.

Bezos is at the landing site, peering into the capsule’s windows and waiting to welcome the crew back to firm land.

Vans carrying the crew members’ friends and family have also arrived at the landing site.

Khloé Kardashian described the thrill of being part of the crowd watching today’s all-female crew launch to space.

“It’s incredible,” she said. “It takes your breath away. And I feel like I have all this adrenaline, and I’m just standing here.”

Kardashian’s mom, Kris Jenner, was also in attendance for the launch. When asked if they would be next to fly, Khloé said today’s flight “made it a little more enticing.”

Reporting from Culberson County, Texas

Very exciting moments here — the rocket was visible from our vantage point for the first 60-90 seconds of launch, but the biggest reaction here came when the reusable rocket booster came plummeting down through the atmosphere before calmly landing back at the pad, followed by the sonic boom. 

A few minutes later the parachutes became visible in the sky out to the right from where it had launched 10 minutes prior.

Blue Origin New Shepard lifts off from Launch Site One in Van Horn, Texas.Blue Origin via AFP – Getty Images

Recovery crews are on their way to the capsule landing site now. They will make sure the spacecraft is safe and that everyone onboard is healthy.

After that, we should get our first glimpse of the newly minted astronauts.

Oprah Winfrey appeared emotional as she watched the Blue Origin rocket launch carrying her friend Gayle King.

The capsule has touched down in the Texas desert.

“Congratulations and welcome back to Earth,” mission control radioed to the crew.

The New Shepard capsule lands today.Blue Origin via AFP – Getty Images

The New Shepard capsule’s parachutes successfully deployed and the spacecraft could be seen descending in the sky.

Audio from inside the capsule picked up cheers as the parachutes unfurled.

The spacecraft will land northeast of the launch site in West Texas.

A sonic boom heralded the return of the reusable booster as it returns to Earth. The rocket executed a picture-perfect landing, touching down vertically in the Texas desert.

Blue Origin’s mission control gave the crew a heads-up that they have 1 minute left to enjoy the views in weightlessness before they need to buckle back into their seats.

The capsule has reached the edge of space.

Audio from inside the spacecraft captured the women excitedly talking about seeing the moon.

The rocket will reach Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound, before the capsule separates from the booster.

Shortly after that, the six crew members will feel weightlessness in their capsule.

New Shepard’s rocket engines ignited and the booster lifted off the launch pad at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder, was in the crowd looking on as the rocket cleared the launch tower.

Oprah Winfrey, a good friend of Gayle King, is in attendance at the West Texas launch.

Winfrey discussed her friend’s anxiety and fear of flying, adding that the spaceflight would be “cathartic” for King.

“I think life is about continuing to grow into the best of yourself,” Winfrey said of why she encouraged King to participate in the Blue Origin flight.

Reporting from Culberson County, Texas

Excitement is starting to build here. All the members of the media are getting ready for their live broadcasts, and the hangar workspace has been almost entirely emptied.

Blue Origin staffers also rolled out TVs onto the pavement to watch the live broadcast, and overhead we can see Blue Origin helicopters circle the launchpad.

Mission controllers conducted a final poll of the various systems. We are “go” for launch.

T-minus 9 minutes to liftoff.

Jeff Bezos had some parting words for the all-female crew as they were getting settled in their spacecraft.

“I’m super excited for you. I don’t want to get off. I want to go with you,” he radioed to them from outside the capsule atop Blue Origin’s launch tower.

“When you get back, I can’t wait to hear how it’s changed you,” Bezos said. “I love you all. See you soon. Godspeed.”

Katy Perry, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen and Kerianne Flynn have all entered their New Shepard capsule and are getting strapped into their seats.

New Shepard is designed to fly autonomously, which means it can travel to and from suborbital space without a pilot on board. The booster is fully reusable and is expected to land vertically in the Texas desert — about 2 miles away from the launch site — roughly 7.5 minutes after liftoff.

The capsule will then land under parachutes approximately 3 minutes later.

Reporting from Culberson County, Texas

We’re on the scene here at Launch Site One, where the sun is just starting to rise ahead of today’s launch. The media call time was 2:30 a.m. CT, and we caravaned from downtown Van Horn out approximately 25 miles into the west Texas desert to the Blue Origin compound. 

It’s been a chilly start to the day, with the sun just rising, giving us our first glimpse of the New Shepard rocket far in the distance.

Nearby, the media setup is a hangar where the crew will hold a press conference shortly after returning to Earth. Inside, there is a replica of the New Shepard capsule that we were able to sit in and peer out the window to get a feel for what the 11-minute journey might be like for this crew.

The six crew members are now being driven to the launch pad, passing by crowds of family, friends and supporters.

Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe and Lauren Sánchez hung out of their Rivian vehicle as they waved to people outside Blue Origin’s astronaut training center.

Jeff Bezos accompanied the crew for the 2-mile ride out to the pad.

Former NFL player Michael Strahan, who flew to space on a Blue Origin flight in 2021, shared a message for the celebrity crew members of today’s mission.

“Good luck on your amazing flight today,” Strahan said in a recorded video that aired during Blue Origin’s livestream.

The former New York Giants great called his own experience “life-changing,” and told the crew to soak in the launch and enjoy being weightless.

“Good luck, have fun, looking forward to seeing you when you’re back on the ground,” he said.

Blue Origin’s founder, Jeff Bezos, showed his support for today’s launch, posting “I love this crew!” on X early this morning.

Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, is one of the crew members on the New Shepard flight. Bezos himself flew to space on Blue Origin’s inaugural crewed flight in July 2021.

Blue Origin’s webcast has begun, with a little more than an hour left until liftoff.

You can follow along on the company’s YouTube channel:

Blue Origin shared a photo of the New Shepard rocket standing ready on the launch pad.

After a long day of rehearsing for her coming world tour, Perry decided to peruse a few books to help her unwind before bed.

“I was listening to ‘Cosmos’ by Carl Sagan and reading a book on string theory,” she recalled. “I’ve always been interested in astrophysics and interested in astronomy and astrology and the stars. We are all made of stardust, and we all come from the stars.”

But Perry was motivated by more than just curiosity. Today, she will join Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, journalist Gayle King and three other women on an all-female Blue Origin spaceflight. Perry spoke with The Associated Press at her Southern California rehearsal space Wednesday, days before she was set to leave for training in Texas.

“I am talking to myself every day and going, ‘You’re brave, you’re bold, you are doing this for the next generation to inspire so many different people but especially young girls to go, “I’ll go to space in the future.” No limitations,’” she said.

Perry said she has been “psychologically” preparing for the spaceflight by reading work by the late Sagan and other scientists.

“I’m really excited about the engineering of it all. I’m excited to learn more about STEM and just the math about what it takes to accomplish this type of thing,” she said.

An all-female spaceflight seems an apt endeavor for Perry, 40, whose collection of hits includes songs about extraterrestrials (“E.T.”) and fireworks shooting across the sky (“Firework”), as well as feminist anthems like her 2013 hit “Roar” and “WOMAN’S WORLD,” off her most recent album.

Perry said that whenever she is doing something new or daunting, she looks inward for strength and confidence.

“Using that feminine divine that I was born with and definitely unlocked when I had my daughter even more, it leveled up for sure. Being a mother just makes you level up with that type of power,” she said. Her daughter, Daisy, 4, joined Perry before her rehearsal.

Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, announced the crew in February. Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, picked the women who will join her on a 10-minute spaceflight from West Texas aboard a New Shepard rocket. Perry, Sanchez and King will be joined by Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist who now heads an engineering firm, research scientist Amanda Nguyen and movie producer Kerianne Flynn.

“I am feeling so grateful and grounded and honored to be invited and included with this incredible group of women,” Perry said.

Whenever she gets nervous about the trip, she reminds herself how important it is.

Blue Origin has flown tourists on short hops to space since 2021, after Bezos climbed aboard with his brother for the inaugural trip; today’s trip will be the company’s 11th human spaceflight. Some passengers have received free rides, while others have paid a hefty sum to experience weightlessness. The company declined to comment on who is footing the bill for today’s flight.

The news of the coming trip has not been without criticism, most recently from actor Olivia Munn, who bemoaned the mission’s cost and publicity. But Perry believes an all-women crew — the first since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963 — has historic ramifications. Only 14% of people who have gone to space have been women.

“It’s an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and for women all around,” she said. “I just feel like, ‘Put us in, coach.’”

The crew will be sporting new spacesuits when Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is scheduled to launch into space today.

Today’s flight will be Blue Origin’s 11th launch with a human crew.

Previous joyrides have taken “Star Trek” actor William Shatner, former New York Giants great Michael Strahan, astronaut Alan Shepard’s daughter Laura Shepard Churchley and Bezos himself to space.

Bezos’ flight, in July 2021, was New Shepard’s inaugural crewed mission.

The celebrity crew is made up of pop star Katy Perry; Gayle King, “CBS Mornings” co-host; Lauren Sánchez, a former journalist who is Jeff Bezos’ fiancée; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist; Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist; and Kerianne Flynn, a movie producer.

Today’s female-only spaceflight will be the first since 1963, when Valentina Tereshkova of the former Soviet Union became the first woman in space after she launched into orbit on a solo mission that lasted slightly under three days.

Liftoff is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket will launch the crew members toward space at more than three times the speed of sound.

From an altitude of about 250,000 feet, the New Shepard capsule will separate, continuing on to the edge of space. Perry and her fellow crew members will fly just above the Kármán line, an invisible boundary at an altitude of 62 miles that is widely accepted as the edge of space.

The crew members will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the capsule descends under parachutes and lands in the Texas desert.

The entire voyage is expected to last about 10 minutes.