Move over, Johnson Space Center. Texas has a new tourism hotspot for space enthusiasts: Van Horn, Texas, where the right amount of money can send you to (sort of) space aboard Blue Origin’s revolutionary New Shepard rocket.
Earlier this week, Jeff Bezos’ space exploration company Blue Origin launched a flight of six women 62 miles above Earth’s surface, marketing it as a historic moment for space travel and womankind. But instead of being a win for feminism, the flight was met with backlash for being wasteful and—in the words of actor and model Emily Ratajkowski—embodying straight up “end time s–t.”
Crew member and journalist Gayle King was reportedly deeply saddened by the backlash, defending Blue Origin and its reported goal to put waste into space, while also challenging those unfortunately bound to the Earth.
Article continues below this ad
“…Have you been? Have you been?” King said during an appearance on Entertainment Tonight. “If you’ve been and you still feel that way after you come back, please, let’s have a conversation.”
Good question, Gayle. Most of us haven’t been to space. But how much does this venture actually cost to see the heavens above? Let’s break it down.
If you’re pinching pennies from your brownstone to save up for a rocket launch, you’re in luck. A commercial flight from John F. Kennedy Airport to El Paso International Airport will usually cost under $400, especially if you turn on that Google Flight alert and strike while the iron is hot. You didn’t get this rich by spending money willy-nilly. Commercial is fine.
Article continues below this ad
But Van Horn is still about 115 miles from the nearest major airport, so you’ll have to rent a car or get a ride to the desert. No matter, you can still ensure a comfortable ride with Uber’s luxury setting.
Let’s be real: You’re going to space (or the edge of the atmosphere at least). You don’t fly commercial (ew). A private flight will take you right into Van Horn. Luckily, this flight pales in comparison to your main event flight and will only cost a paltry $30,000 for you and any friends you want to witness your historic astronaut induction. Plus: in-flight champagne.
Article continues below this ad
Assuming you don’t want to immediately head home on your private jet and instead enjoy the beautiful views of quaint West Texas (so different from Manhattan!) to come down from the Gs, Hotel El Capitan is where you’ll likely rest your head for the evening. A room with a king-sized bed and its own private outdoor patio will cost you about $174 per night (which actually is a great deal).
This image provided by Blue Origin shows, first row, seated, from left: Lauren Sanchez and Kerianne Flynn and standing in back from left: Amanda Nguyen, Katy Perry, Gayle King and Aisha Bowe in West Texas.
Associated Press
Lauren Sánchez, fiancée of Jeff Bezos, enlisted the creative directors of designer label Oscar de la Renta for the suits sported by the six women in April’s zero-gravity trip. Each crew member was 3-D body-scanned so the flame-resistant stretch neoprene jumpsuit fit perfectly, and its features included a mandarin collar, belt and the ability to turn the leg into a flare or slim fit.
Article continues below this ad
“Simplicity was important, and comfort, and fit,” designer Fernando Garcia told the New York Times. “But we also wanted something that was a little dangerous, like a motocross outfit.”
No bulky life-supporting packs or helmets; this is stylish space travel (and you aren’t doing anything scientific, anyway). Or, as Katy Perry reportedly told Sanchez, “putting the ‘ass’ in astronaut.”
Of course, your ticket to space won’t come cheap. Blue Origin is cagey with exact figures, but a seat on the first flight sold for $28 million in an auction. Now, a few flights in, seats require a $150,000 deposit. Blue Origin said some of the crew members on its all-women flight paid for their seats, but declined to say who.
Eric Berger, founder of Space City Weather and senior space editor at Ars Technica, says the Blue Origin flight tickets come in three tiers: one with free seats, one with discounted seats for academics or “goodwill ambassadors,” and the final tier of full-priced tickets “for rich old white guys.”
Article continues below this ad
“I’m pretty sure they’re charging as much as they can get,” Berger said. “I’m pretty convinced it’s over $1 million.” Ultimately, he estimates tickets are in the low millions, ranging from $2 million to $4 million.
Upon landing, don’t get caught up listening to the sobbing sci-fi star next to you as he attempts to verbalize his thoughts on the celestial grandeur you just witnessed together. Instead, spray a bottle of champagne to mark the momentous occasion of becoming an astronaut. You earned it.
There’s nothing like burning a bunch of jet fuel to make you realize just how fragile our beautiful planet is. Make sure you kiss the ground when you land and buy a copy of Silent Spring to drive home how much you’re going to stop buying single-use plastic.
Article continues below this ad
All-in, the Blue Origin space trip experience could cost you roughly $2,002,300—and that’s erring on the low end. Will it get cheaper now that everyone thinks Katy Perry and Gayle King are out of touch? Probably not anytime soon.
Yes, it’s not a great look to market the first all-women space crew while NASA, the agency about to send people to the moon again, can’t even say the word “woman.” But the lure of the final frontier remains, and there will always be another rich guy.
Article continues below this ad
“I don’t think it’s going to affect space tourism; it’s a rich person’s game,” Berger said. “There are a lot of people who want to go to space, and I don’t think anybody who really wants to go to space is going to be turned off too much by the backlash.”
Editor’s note: Estimates for hotels and flights were based on figures from Google Flights, Hotels.com and ParamountBusinessJets.com for the dates of July 20–23, 2025. (I do not know if there are Blue Origin flights on these dates. I just picked three days, assuming they would launch on a weekday as they have in the past.)
