‘The highest high’: Katy Perry and all-female crew in Blue Origin space launch

The pop star sang, screamed and sobbed her way through a brief but euphoric foray into space, roaring to the edge of the cosmos with an all-women crew on one of Jeff Bezos’s rockets | WATCH

Pop star Katy Perry sang, screamed and sobbed her way through a brief but euphoric foray into space on Monday, roaring to the edge of the cosmos with an all-women crew on one of billionaire Jeff Bezos’s rockets.

BREAKING: The Blue Origin all-female crew capsule has returned to Earth.

All of the crew can be heard screaming with excitement before Lauren Sanchez confirms to ground control that they are safe.

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The “Firework” and “California Gurls” singer was lofted more than 60 miles (100 kilometres) above the Earth’s surface in a vessel from Blue Origin, the space company owned by the Amazon founder.

"Take up space!"

A daisy for Daisy, a Bahamas patch and a shoutout to Vietnam — here are the ways Blue Origin’s first all-women crew celebrated their moment in space, bringing their loved ones with them from the Earth below. https://t.co/fWre9mBiNZpic.twitter.com/9DTpQPSYSs

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Five other women – including Bezos’s fiancee Lauren Sanchez – were on the flight, which took off from western Texas shortly after 8.30am (2.30am AEST) before safely landing again some 10 minutes later.

The mission was the first all-woman space crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s historic solo flight in 1963.

Blue Origin New Shepard takes off from Launch Site One in Van Horn, West Texas. Picture: AFP.

The flight brought the passengers beyond the Karman line – the internationally recognised boundary of space.

One of the other passengers, TV presenter Gayle King, said Perry sang “What a wonderful world” in space.

“It’s a 10 out of 10. That’s my review. Definitely go for it,” the singer said after she was safely back on Earth.

#KatyPerry tells Blue Origin about being an astronaut: "I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you, like how much love you have to give and how loved you are until the day you launch"👏👑💙@katyperrypic.twitter.com/asO5XpkPnv

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Their fully automated craft rose vertically at three times the speed of sound, with the women screaming in elation – then breaking into sobs as they stared down at their planet below, before the crew capsule detached mid-flight, later falling back to the ground slowed by parachutes and a retro rocket.

Bezos opened the capsule's hatch minutes after touchdown, embracing Sanchez, the first one out. As they emerged, Perry and King kneeled and kissed the ground. “Oh my God, that was amazing,” said King, who considers herself an anxious airplane flyer.

Katy Perry kisses the ground on returning to Earth after a flight on Blue Origin New Shepard NS-31. Picture; AFP.

Perry said the experience of going to space was “second to being a mom”.

“It’s the highest high and I just surrendered to the unknown, trusted … I couldn’t recommend this experience more,” she said.

“I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you, like how much love you have to give and how loved you are until the day you launch,” she said.

She told reporters: “We weren't just taking up space. We were making space for the future.”

Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist said, of viewing the Earth from an altitude of 106km (65.8 miles): “It was quiet but also really alive, and you look at it and you’re like ‘We’re all in this together, we’re so connected.

“It was a feeling of joy, of camaraderie, of gratefulness. Profound is like the one word I would use,” she added.

From left: Jeff Bezos, Kerianne Flynn, Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, Aisha Bowe, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen, Sarah Knights, director of Blue Origin's astronaut office, and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp. Picture: Blue Origin via AP.

The flight was the 11th suborbital crewed operation by Blue Origin, which has offered space tourism experiences for several years.

The company does not publicly communicate the price of trips made possible by its New Shepard rocket.

They were expected to have a brief period when the women could unbuckle from their seats and float in zero gravity.

Perry, Sanchez and King were flying with film producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen, founder of a campaign group against sexual violence.

The New Shepard capsule returns to land in Van Horn, West Texas. Picture: AFP.

They follow 52 previous Blue Origin passengers, including longtime “Star Trek” leading man William Shatner.

King’s close friend – talk show legend Oprah Winfrey – was among those watching the launch in Texas.

“It’s oddly quiet when you get up there … you look down at the planet and think, ‘That’s where we came from?’ And to me it’s such a reminder about how we need to do better and be better,” King said.

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches from West Texas. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

Perry recently told Elle magazine that she was taking part “for my daughter Daisy,” whom she shares with actor Orlando Bloom, “to inspire her to never have limits on her dreams.” Such high-profile guests are intended to keep public interest in Blue Origin’s work, as it battles multiple rival firms in the space tourism field.

Bezos’ top challenger in passenger flights is Virgin Galactic, which offers a similar suborbital experience.

But Blue Origin aims in the future to bring space tourists into orbit, competing directly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

In January, Blue Origin’s much more powerful New Glenn rocket successfully completed its first unmanned orbital mission.

AFP