Katy Perry's 10-minute spaceflight: How much do space trips like this cost?

Katy Perry and five other prominent women recently completed their brief trip to the edge of space on one of Blue Origin’s rockets. The crew consisted of Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancee, CBS host Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, scientist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn and American singer Katy Perry. They were also the first all-female space crew in more than sixty years.

The crew reached up to heights of over 100 kilometers, allowing the passengers to briefly experience weightlessness and cross the Karman line, which is the internationally recognized boundary of space.

The spacecraft responsible for the trip was Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket which can carry up to six passengers on a short journey beyond the Earth's atmosphere. So far, Blue Origin has made 11 space trips and has carried 58 people to space.

The space travel company, owned by Jeff Bezos, runs a website with a reservation page where potential passengers can enter their details like date of birth, name, address, etc. It also asks them to add a 500-word essay describing themselves and why they wish to embark on a space journey.

The exact cost of the spaceflight remains undisclosed but a seat on its maiden flight in 2021 was auctioned for $28 million, according to a report from New York Times. A few of the passengers on the all-female flight also reportedly paid to be there, but Blue Origin has refrained from telling who paid for their trip.

Some passengers pay, whereas others don't. Roman Chiporukha, co-founder of space travel booking company SpaceVIP, told The Observer that "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."

In contrast to the secrecy regarding the space flights, Blue Origin's competitor, Virgin Galactic, has publicly offered rides at the cost between $200,000 and $450,000.