On April 14, 2025 an all female crew consisting of Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen, and Kerianne Flynn flew out to space on a Blue Origin flight. Besides the bizarre social media theories about the patch on the ladies’ spacesuits referring to some Satanic cult, their trip to space was also vehemently criticized by both common people and celebrities on the internet.
However, the ones who took the trip admitted that it was a life-changing experience for them. After landing back on earth, Aisha Bowe said, “I will never be the same.” Gayle King also seemed to be sharing the same feeling as she said, “I stepped out of my comfort zone in a way that I never thought was possible for me. And now that I’ve done it, I really do feel like I can take on anything.”
However, now that the flight is making headlines, it is natural to be curious about whether people who are not celebrities can take the flight and how much it will cost. The exact amount needed to book a ticket on a Blue Origin flight is not clearly mentioned anywhere as Roman Chiporukha, co-founder of space travel booking company SpaceVIP, told The Observer, “It’s not about money; it’s about who you are, your social capital, whether you align with their launch purposes. It’s kind of a package deal.”
It should also be noted here that Bill Kircos, the spokesperson for Blue Origin, told CNN that even for the April 14 trip, some passengers had to pay while others did not. However, he did not mention who had to pay and who got to experience space for free. Previously, Star Trek star William Shatner was given a free ride on a Blue Origin flight in October 2021, as the company told The New York Times.
View this post on Instagram
However, in 2021, the first crewed flight of Blue Origin was sold for $28 million, as The New York Times reported. Blue Origin’s reservation page is open to anyone despite the price secrecy. A common person can also go to their site and fill in basic information on the reservation page. While no pricing information is available there, an acknowledgement mentioned at the bottom of the page says a refundable deposit of $150,000 is needed to take the process further.
View this post on Instagram
What happens after filling the form is not clear though the page clearly states, “filling out this form does not guarantee you a seat on a future New Shepard flight.” The Blue Origin flights also do not follow any strict flying schedule as after the first crewed flight in 2021, there was a gap of two years before the next flight.
The last flight before the April 14 one was launched on February 25, 2025 as mentioned by the company and the all female crew flight was the 11th flight out of the 31 missions that Blue Origin has completed.
