This time, Katy Perry was literally among the stars. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket carried her and five other women, including the billionaire's partner Lauren Sanchez, on a suborbital journey. They witnessed the first “sky” concert.
Katy Perry has outdone the likes of Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber by performing a cover of a hit from years ago in space. As it turns out, she has gone down in history as the first pop star to sing outside of Earth.
The “women's flight” lasted 11 minutes and took the women over 100 km above Earth (above the Karman line), thus crossing the recognized boundary of outer space. In this way, the passengers could experience weightlessness for a few moments. The ship is completely autonomous, so it does not need pilots. Of course, there is a crew on board, but they do not have to operate the rocket.
After landing, pop star Katy Perry kissed the ground and announced that she would write a song about her experience. She said she felt “very connected to life and very connected to love.” But perhaps the disjointed speech was a result of the long landing.
Blue Origin
Lauren Sanchez, whose door was opened by her fiancé Jeff Bezos himself, had more to say. “I looked out the window and saw the moon up close,” she described. “The earth looked so quiet, it was quiet, but it was really alive,” she said, fascinated, with tears in her eyes.
Blue Origin has been offering commercial space travel aboard its New Shepard spacecraft for several years. First, you have to make a reservation and send a 500-word “letter of motivation” explaining why you should go to space. Then you sign a contract, which does not guarantee a place on the ship. Before taking off, future passengers on the rocket undergo several days of training.
Blue Origin spokesman Bill Kircos told CNN that some passengers flew for free. However, he did not reveal who paid for the trip or how much it was. Unofficially, although there is no price list on the website, it is known that booking the flight alone costs $150,000. Some people paid millions to fly into space. For example, in 2021, a seat was auctioned for $28 million. In 2022, it was supposed to cost… just $1.25 million. Others – most often celebrities – shot themselves for free.
The cost of one night on the space station is only $35,000
“3, 2, 1 – take off”. “Huston we are in orbit. Over and out” – such conversations can be heard in the headphones of the first tourist aliens. NASA collects records n
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According to the Research and Markets report, in 2023 the space travel industry is valued at $848.28 million, and a year later – at $1.3 billion . According to estimates, by 2030 it will reach $6.7 billion , growing at a rate of 31.6% between 2024 and 2030. There are two branches of space tourism: suborbital, taking passengers above the aforementioned Karman line, and orbital, which allows you to fly further and spend several days to a week in weightlessness.
The main players in this industry are Virgin Galactic, the aforementioned Blue Origin and Spacex. All of them have already taken tourists to the stars in 2021. A place on a Virgin Galactic ship costs about $450,000. In turn, SpaceX in 2021 took a crew whose flight was paid for by billionaire Jared Isaacman, for $220 million.
Although at the beginning the public was still being led to believe that commercial space flights could bring benefits, among other things, thanks to the experiments being carried out at the time, it quickly turned out that, just like commercial ascents of Everest, they did not bring anything new, and what is more, the technologies developed by the companies would not find application anywhere outside their own companies.
To this we should add the impact on the environment – just to prepare a rocket for launch, you have to “produce” about 50 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Even Taylor Swift was not able to produce that much during her “Eras Tour”, as “The Gamer” calculates.
So it's just pure vanity and, as the latest flight shows, the ability to boast about a perfectly maintained hairstyle despite touching the stars.
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