Women Reach New Heights on Blue Origin Space Launch

With so much noise in the world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the headlines. But every once in a while, something extraordinary happens — something that reminds us just how powerful, capable, and limitless women truly are.

Earlier this week, six remarkable women lifted off into space aboard a Blue Origin flight — an all-female crew that included CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, singer Katy Perry, journalist and philanthropist Lauren Sánchez, Former NASA rocket scientist and CEO of STEMBoard Aisha Bowe, Civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn. Watching them launch into the sky, I felt overcome with gratitude, joy, and awe. The moment they broke through Earth’s atmosphere, I couldn’t help but see their mission as more than a milestone. It was a message. A statement. A call to all of us.

Their smiles said it all — the kind of radiant, full-body joy that only comes from stepping into the unimaginable. For just a few minutes, they saw the world from a place most of us never will. And in doing so, they helped every woman, every girl watching, see ourselves differently too.

For me, this wasn’t just a spectacle. It was deeply personal. My brilliant mother-in-law, Jean Jones, was one of the first Black female programmers at NASA — a math prodigy whose early genius earned her a place in a world that rarely made room for women, let alone Black women. Though her name isn’t in “Hidden Figures,” she was very much part of that story, working on missions that helped make space travel possible.

Her legacy lives on in our family. Years ago, in 2016, my daughter Olivia — inspired by the stories she’d heard — entered a nationwide school art competition to design the next NASA mission patch to be sent to astronauts at the international space station. Out of more than 7,000 submissions, her artwork was chosen as the winner. I recall proudly watching in awe as our 10-year-old Olivia took center stage at a press conference held at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Virginia, answering questions from the media with confidence and clarity. We then got to witness the extraordinary moment her patch launched into space aboard the NASA Antares rocket, orbiting Earth more than 7,000 times on its journey. As we watched the astronauts live from space opening the capsule containing Olivia's artwork, along with a few other student artifacts, I remember thinking she had no idea of the true magnitude of what her accomplishment meant for little girls everywhere. There are a few funny twists to her story, which I will save for another time, but that moment, like this week’s launch, reminded me: when girls see it, they start to believe it. 

Some are dismissing the all-female Jeff Bezos Blue Origin mission as a publicity stunt. But I see it as a moment of transformation — a reminder that women don’t just belong in boardrooms, on ballots, or behind the camera. We belong in space, too.

To the girls who watched in wonder, to the women who dared to dream, and to the mothers, grandmothers, and ancestors who paved the way: this was for you.

The sky is no longer the limit. It’s just the beginning.