‘Did we learn nothing from OceanGate?’: Fans predict disaster as Katy Perry launched into space

Katy Perry is about to be launched into outer space. Now there’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d ever write. The pop icon is set to be blasted off our planet aboard Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard rocket, due to launch in West Texas at 08:30 am local time.

Perry will be one of five women making the trip and will be joined by CBS presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, making this the first all-female launch since Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963.

But there are rumblings amongst the fan community that wealthy people climbing aboard a small vessel and being sent to a place that’ll kill you in a heartbeat may not be such a great idea. After all, the memory of the OceanGate Titan submersible implosion still looms large in the memory, becoming a modern monument to 1%er hubris.

As such, some are predicting disaster for Perry:

Katy Perry going into space for a laugh just shows how out of touc my these celebrities are.

Have they learned nothing from the billionaire submarine?

— Jake Davey (@jakedavey_) April 14, 2025

katy perry actually going to space bruh did we learn nothing from oceangate 😭

— cherry ☆ (@lullabylarva) April 14, 2025

This Katy Perry and Gayle King going to space with the Blue Origin crew is giving OceanGate

— middle child (@Fan22Fever) April 8, 2025

Whether this trip is as dangerous as traveling to the bottom of the ocean to view the Titanic is up for debate. Perry will be in flight for roughly 11 minutes, with her capsule taking her just above the Karman line, the boundary between outer space and Earth’s atmosphere. Bezos’ rocket at least appears to be rigorously safety examined and tested, while OceanGate’s submersible seemed to have been held together by duct tape and prayers.

Perry has also revealed that she’s nervous about the trip (so, uh, apologies if you’re reading this, Katy). In an Instagram video call with the other passengers, the subject of fear came up and Perry responded: “I’ll be a little nervous, but I’ll be looking at y’all.” But, on the whole, she understandably sounds excited: “If you had told me I’d be part of the first all-female crew in space, I would have believed you. Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child.”

Here’s hoping for an uneventful and successful trip for Perry. That said, we did hear about a great idea for a potential prank: what if, after she touches down, we all pretend that we have no idea who she is now? Who knows, maybe she’d be convinced she jumped timelines up in the inky blackness of the void.