Blue Origin launch live: Katy Perry and all-female crew to fly into space on Jeff Bezos rocket – UK Times

Lift-off on April 14 is scheduled for 8.30am local central time, or 2.30pm in the UK.

The craft will fly through space for around four minutes before floating back down to Earth, with the entire journey taking a little over 10 minutes.

Katy Perry has said she received “confirmation” from the universe that she should take part in the Blue Origin space mission.

The US pop star, 40, is part of a six-woman crew flying to space on Jeff Bezos’s New Shepard NS-31 mission, organised by his partner, journalist Lauren Sanchez.

The trip, launching from West Texas at 8.30am local time on Monday, is expected to last around 11 minutes.

In a video posted to Instagram a day before the launch, the Roar singer said she is “always looking for little confirmations from the heavens, from my guides, from my angels, from my higher self”.

“When I’m looking for it, it’s pretty loud,” she added.

During space training, Perry said she had noticed two unexpected coincidences linked to nicknames her mother calls her.

She said: “When I was invited to come on this voyage, I looked up the capsule. On the very front of it is the outline in the shape of a feather and when I saw that it was like a total confirmation because my mom has always called me feather.

“And so I’m in space training today and there’s a lot to digest. We’re almost finished with the day and they showed us the capsule and we run simulations in another capsule and tested the noise and what to expect and all these different things and they reveal the capsule name.

“The capsule’s name is Tortoise. A wave, just the most energetic wave, just shot through my body. And I was like, ‘What? This capsule’s name is Tortoise?’

“My mom calls me two nicknames. Feather and tortoise. What are the chances that I’m going to space on a rocket in a capsule with my symbol, the feather, called Tortoise?”

She added: “There are no coincidences and I’m just so grateful for these confirmations and so grateful that I feel like something bigger than me is steering the ship

Katy Perry has been sharing details on the final preparations for her mission. That includes some last minute training – and a promise to put “the ‘ass’ in astronaut”.

Read the full story here.

Though Katy Perry has taken up much of the headlines ahead of the trip (including the one above), she’s actually part of a six-strong team on the Blue Origin mission. You can read more about everyone involved – as well as more details – here.

… to The Independent’s live coverage of Blue Origin Flight NS-31, which will take Katy Perry and an all-female crew to space.