“Listen, it is troubling to me, too,” she told CBS. “There have been some questions and decisions that he’s made that I’ve actually gone, ‘Huh?’ But I think in this particular case, this is so much bigger than one man and one company. I’ve chosen to separate the two. It’s not a zero-sum game. You can do this on one hand and this on the other hand, and both things can be true.”

Sánchez, 55, said she had got “fired up” about the criticism and wanted naysayers to “come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don’t just work here but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle”.

Stars including Tom Hanks and Drew Barrymore made a send-off video for the six women to watch. And others, including Oprah Winfrey and several members of the Kardashian family, watched the launch from the ground in west Texas.

Khloé Kardashian said: “I didn’t realise how emotional it would be, it’s hard to explain. I have all this adrenalin and I’m just standing here. Whatever you dream of is in our reach, especially in today’s day and age. Dream big, wish for the stars – and one day, you could maybe be among them.”

On her return to earth, Perry clutched a daisy that she had taken to space with her, in honour of her daughter Daisy Dove, who was also there to watch the launch.

“I feel super connected to love,” said Perry. “This experience has shown me how loved you are until the day you launch. 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.”

Presumably she hadn’t had a chance to check her social media yet.