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 2.30pm BST (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.”
Perry joins rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bio-astronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, CBS Mornings presenter Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn and Ms Sanchez on the flight.
It will be the 11th human flight for the Blue Origin programme, which has taken passengers including Mr Bezos himself to space since 2021.
Ms Sanchez said the mission is about inspiring others to “dream big”, and praised the women on board as “incredible storytellers”.
