Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says Blue Origin's flight members were 'Brave and Glam' but not 'Astronauts' 

Blue Origin flew its New Shepard rocket to suborbital space on April 14, 2025, with a crew consisting entirely of women. The six popular travelers included Kerianne Flynn, Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, and Lauren Sánchez.

The flight was short, self-contained, and flew 62 miles (100 km), surpassing both the U.S. 50-mile threshold and the internationally recognized Kármán line. But even after the milestone, the crew members will not be officially certified as astronauts by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

According to People, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an X post that,

"Crewmembers who travel into space must have 'demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety,"

"The crew who flew to space this week on an automated flight by Blue Origin were brave and glam, but you cannot identify as an astronaut."

"They do not meet the FAA astronaut criteria."

Under current FAA policy, the women were "brave and glam" — but under current policy, they "do not meet the FAA astronaut criteria." The word "astronaut" is never applied to a person unless he or she has some specific flight responsibilities in space.

FAA's definition of an astronaut

The FAA updated its Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program in July 2021. The policy established two core requirements for the issuance of an astronaut title:

• Flying more than 50 miles (about 80 kilometers) above the surface of the Earth.
• Participating in activities during flight that are critical to public safety or significant to human spaceflight safety.

This revision was brought about by the increasing number of commercial spaceflights where most passengers do not undertake technical or safety-related duties. The title of astronaut is now reserved for individuals who play a direct part in flight activities or safety-critical duties.

Autonomous flight and passenger classification

Blue Origin's New Shepard is designed to be autonomous and has no technical crew or pilots on board. The spacecraft is programmed to conduct suborbital missions autonomously without any input from its passengers. As a result, the six women on board did not have any mission-critical or safety-specific responsibilities.

Thus, according to FAA policy, they are not awarded astronaut wings. Even though they exceeded the minimum altitude requirement, their work in flight did not fulfill the second criterion of the FAA's requirements for an astronaut.

Although the Blue Origin flight of April 14, 2025, was a cultural marker with a full-female passenger list, the passengers on board will not be considered astronauts by the FAA. The existing policy in this aspect provides that an astronaut is someone who not only goes to space but also oversees safety or commands the mission.

Since the flight was on autopilot and passengers were in no respect accountable for the operations, they remain spaceflight participants. The FAA regulations are designed to distinguish passengers from certified mission specialists. So long as no one is filling that position, the official "astronaut" designation does not exist—either at altitude, fame, or popularity.

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