Popstar Katy Perry returns safely to Earth after trip to space

Jeff Bezos (far left) congratulates the passengers (from left to right) Kerianne Flynn, Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez, Aisha Bowe, Gayle King and Amanda Nguyen, after their return to Earth

Popstar Katy Perry blasted off into space as part of an all-female flight crew on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.

The rocket has been built by Blue Origin, a space tourism company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, who started Amazon.

Katy Perry was joined by five other women on the trip, Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez, US TV presenter Gayle King, former Nasa rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

The rocket set off from a launch site in West Texas at 08:30 local time (14:30 BST).

The flight lasted around 11 minutes and the capsule travelled more than 100km (62 miles) above Earth, crossing the Karman line - the internationally recognised boundary of space - giving the passengers a few minutes of weightlessness, before safely returning to Earth.

Katy Perry took a daisy flower with her, as a tribute to her daughter who is called Daisy, and sang part of the song What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, on the way back to Earth

The spacecraft is fully autonomous - which means there are no pilots and the rocket is controlled remotely, not by people onboard the ship.

The capsule returned to Earth with a soft landing using a parachute, with the rocket booster landing itself around two miles away from the launch site.

After landing Katy Perry said she feels "super connected to life" and "so connected to love" and said she might record a song about her experience.

TV presenter Gayle King said: "It's oddly quiet when you get up there. It's really quiet and peaceful and you look down at the planet and think, 'That's where we came from.'

"For me, it's such a reminder about how we need to do better, be better," she adds.

A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launching in 2022.

Although the space tourism company Blue Origin has not revealed full ticket prices, we do know that a $150,000 (£114,575.85) deposit is required to save a seat.

Space tourism has split people's opinions in recent years, with some people saying that it is too exclusive - as it is very expensive so only some people can do it - and damaging to the environment.

With people who support space tourism saying that private companies are increasing innovation and making space more accessible.

The mission is the 11th human spaceflight for the New Shepard rocket and the 31st in its history. So far, the programme has launched more than 50 people into space, including Jeff Bezos himself.