BBC Climate & Science reporter
Science correspondent, BBC News
Pop star Katy Perry and five other women safely returned to Earth after reaching space aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket.
The singer was joined by Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sánchez and CBS presenter Gayle King, who said a highlight of the flight was hearing Perry sing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”.
After landing back on Earth, Perry said she felt “super connected to life” and “so connected to love”.
The flight lasted around 11 minutes and took the six women more than 100km (62 miles) above Earth, crossing the internationally recognised boundary of space and giving them a few moments of weightlessness.
Also on board were former Nasa rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
The New Shepard rocket lifted off from its West Texas launch site just after 08:30 local time (14:30 BST).
The capsule returned to Earth with a parachute-assisted soft landing, while the rocket booster also landed back in Texas.
Cheering could be heard from inside the capsule as the recovery crew went to collect them.
Jeff Bezos opened the capsule door to welcome back Lauren Sánchez, the first to disembark.
“I’m so proud of this crew,” she said tearfully. “I can’t put it into words.”
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Dave Limp/Blue Origin