Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez are NOT astronauts: FAA rules say the Blue Origin crew don’t qualify because the ship was entirely controlled from the ground
After Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez and four other women blasted into space yesterday, Blue Origin proudly declared that they had officially become astronauts.
‘We just completed our 11th human spaceflight and the 31st flight of the New Shepard program,’ Jeff Bezos’ company tweeted.
‘The astronaut crew included Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez.’
However, according to rules issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Perry and her fellow passengers aren’t really astronauts at all.
During the 11-minute joyride into the upper atmosphere, the Blue Origin mission reached a maximum height of 66.5 miles (107 km).
This put them just above the Karman line – a boundary used to define the start of space.
But the New Shepard spacecraft was designed to be autonomous, meaning no-one on board controlled any aspects of the flight.
This makes the women ineligible for official astronaut status – and instead, they’re technically classed as ‘space travellers’.
After Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez and the other members of the Blue Origin NS-31 mission (pictured) passed the boundary of space, Blue Origin proudly declared that they were now astronauts
However, while the New Shepard rocket did carry the crew beyond the Karman Line, the official boundary of space, this does not mean they count as astronauts
In 2004, the FAA launched its Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program.
This recognised anyone who flew on an FAA-approved vehicle above 50 miles as an astronaut and made them eligible to receive a set of astronaut wings.
However, as commercial spaceflight programs became more common, the FAA moved to tighten the rules governing who gets to be an astronaut.
In 2021, the FAA added the requirement that the crew member had ‘demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety’.
The New Shepard rocket which took Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez to space was designed specifically for space tourism and, as such, isn’t controlled from onboard.
Instead, the rocket is operated from the ground and flies autonomously from launch until landing.
That means nobody on board would have had the opportunity to demonstrate any activities beyond floating around and enjoying the view.
Yet exactly what counts as activities ‘essential to public safety’ is up to the FAA’s discretion which can lead to some different interpretations.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s rules, being eligible for astronaut status required that crew members ‘demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety’. It seems extremely unlikely that Katy Perry and the other passengers would meet this requirement
The New Shepard capsule is controlled from the ground and flies autonomously from launch until landing. This means its members can’t have performed any actions essential to public safety
For example, Sir Richard Branson’s 2021 Virgin Galactic flight was designated a ‘test flight’.
Mr Branson was awarded wings by the FAA since the test flight itself counted as an action which contributed to ‘human space flight safety’.
However, with 52 people having already flown on the New Shepard rocket across the 30 previous missions it is unlikely that Katy Perry’s mission would merit this kind of special recognition.
Additionally, the FAA’s astronaut wing program also allowed for honorary awards for individuals whose ‘contribution to commercial human space flight merits special recognition’.
But, once again, none of the members of yesterday’s NS-31 mission have made any especially significant contributions which could make them worthy of this title.
As it stands, entering space has now become so common that the FAA has stopped recognising commercial astronauts at all.
Shortly after changing the rules, the FAA announced that it would be winding down the Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program.
In a statement at the time, FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith said: ‘The U.S. commercial human spaceflight industry has come a long way from conducting test flights to launching paying customers into space.
The FAA has since changed its rules on commercial spaceflight to stop recognising any new commercial astronauts as space tourism becomes more common
While Katy Perry may be added to the FAA’s Human Spaceflight Recognition’ list, this will not give her status as an astronaut
The recognition list also includes NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (top) and Suni Williams (bottom) since they returned to Earth on a commercial vehicle. However, this pair do have astronaut status awarded to them by NASA for taking part in an active mission
‘The Astronaut Wings program, created in 2004, served its original purpose to bring additional attention to this exciting endeavor.’
Currently, instead of awarding astronaut wings, the FAA adds anyone who has exceeded 50 miles in an FAA-licenced vehicle to the ‘Human Spaceflight Recognition’ list.
This list includes both space tourists like American football player Russell Wilson, who flew on a New Shepard mission, and actual NASA astronauts like Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore who returned to Earth on a commercial SpaceX capsule.
Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez and the other crew members are yet to be added to the list but even when they are, this will not give them any status as astronauts.
Meanwhile, the other American bodies capable of making someone an astronaut – the US Army and NASA – only recognise their own crew members.
Likewise, these crew members are required to serve on a mission for which they would be expected to undergo years of training and play an active role.
Not being members of the Army or employees of NASA means that there is no way that the members of the Blue Origin mission can be officially recognised as astronauts.
The FAA and Blue Origin have been contacted for comment.
