Blue Origin’s all-female flight proves that women are now free to enjoy capitalism’s most extravagant spoils alongside rich men.
This morning, Jeff Bezos’ private spaceflight startup, Blue Origin, launched six well-known women into space. The event was livestreamed, hosted by sportscaster Charissa Thompson. Watching from the ground were celebrities like Kris Jenner, Orlando Bloom, and Oprah Winfrey, while Bezos himself escorted the crew to the capsule. As the rocket soared skyward, a voice from the capsule shouted: “Oh my goddess!”
Bezos has claimed it’s his generation’s duty to “build a road to space, so that future generations can unleash their creativity.” And now, that road seems paved with glitter and sponsored content. The crew list could pass for a cosmic American Girl doll lineup: pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, feminist activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez — journalist, aviation entrepreneur, philanthropist, children’s author, and Bezos’ fiancée.
The company framed this as the “first all-woman spaceflight” since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963. But while Tereshkova spent three days orbiting Earth and became an international symbol, Blue Origin’s 2025 launch feels more like a PR maneuver — repackaging feminism through celebrity influence. Take women from various fields, launch them briefly into space, and bask in the resulting social media glow.
The company claimed the launch would inspire girls to pursue STEM careers, with Sánchez telling Elle the mission was about encouraging “the next generation of explorers.” However, the passengers weren’t astronauts — they were space tourists. Their core mission: feel weightless, glimpse Earth from above, and post about it. They were influencers in orbit, payload specialists with marketing degrees.
While women remain underrepresented in aerospace, they do go to space — over 100 have since Sally Ride in 1983. Had NASA organized this flight, it could have marked a long-earned milestone. Instead, this mission seems to say: if you’re friends with Sánchez, you, too, can fly. The meaning shifts from progress to proximity — to wealth, influence, and marriage to billionaires.
Blue Origin joins other private players like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX in selling space to the elite. Its New Shepard rocket is self-piloting; the six women onboard had no operational duties. While Bowe and Nguyen had some aerospace backgrounds, Sánchez chose the others because they’re “storytellers” who could spread the word through journalism, film, and music.
Even the suits were customized by Sánchez’s favorite designers. Souvenirs from the flight — available on Blue Origin’s site — featured “yassified” patches: a shooting-star microphone for King, fireworks for Perry, and a fly for Sánchez’s 2024 book about a dyslexic insect. During their four minutes of weightlessness, each woman pursued an activity linked to her persona. Nguyen performed a brief science experiment about menstruation. Perry promised to “put the ‘ass’ in astronaut.”
The message: any girl can be anything — astronaut, pop star, journalist, or a billionaire’s fiancée — and win a golden ticket to space. Even moms can fly. “Guess what?” Sánchez told Elle. “Moms go to space.” (Anna Lee Fisher, the first mom in space, did so in 1984.)
Sheryl Sandberg once advised in Lean In: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.” For Blue Origin, it’s the proximity to power that counts, not the mission.
The promotional energy around the flight was full of firsts — Elle claimed it would be “the first time anybody went to space with their hair and makeup done.” But this isn’t new. Life magazine showed Tereshkova getting her hair done before orbit. Astronaut Rhea Seddon took cosmetics into space in 1985, knowing she’d be photographed extensively.
Sending women to space has always walked the line between inspiration and objectification. Tereshkova was described as a “blue-eyed blonde with a new hairdo” by Life. A senator said she brought “romance to a new high.” One NASA officer in the 1960s said women in space would mean men had truly found a home there — “for the woman is the personification of the home.”
Blue Origin dreams of a future where millions live and work in space “to restore and sustain Earth.” But this flight feels like prep for a billionaire escape plan. To keep them company in orbit, they’ll need more than bros. Moms. Fiancées. Influencers. Women — not as scientists, but as co-travelers in capitalism’s final frontier.
Category: Space, Feminism, Tech Culture
Tags: Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos, Women in Space, Private Spaceflight, Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez, Capitalism, Feminism in Tech, Influencer Culture
