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In an era of climate crises, wealth inequality, and the ongoing fight for gender equity, Katy Perry’s brief voyage into space, courtesy of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, has left a sour taste in people’s mouths.

On Monday, the pop star joined a six-woman crew aboard a Blue Origin rocket for a commercial space tourism flight that lasted just over 10 minutes and cost an undisclosed amount that likely exceeded the required deposit of $150,000 per passenger.

Billed as the company’s first all-female mission, the passenger list included Perry, CBS anchor Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, producer Kerianne Flynn, and Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez. Bezos was also aboard.

The crew crossed the Kármán line, the edge of Earth’s atmosphere, before floating gently back down to Texas. Upon landing back on Earth and exiting the capsule, Perry raised her hand to the sky and kissed the ground, a moment has become a meme, along with King’s reaction which was also priceless.

The trip, which was promoted as a historical moment for women, was mocked mercilessly online. The internet lit up with ridicule and fury, branding the high-profile stunt a “wasteful” and “tone-deaf” charade — especially given the state of the environment and climate change today.

Model and actor Emily Ratajkowski led the charge, posting a scathing TikTok shortly after the crew’s return. “That space mission this morning? That’s end time s***,” she said. “It’s beyond parody… You say you care about Mother Earth and then launch yourself into orbit with a company actively destroying it?”

Without naming Perry, Ratajkowski added, “Think about how many resources went into putting these women into space… For what? What was the marketing there? I’m disgusted.”

Actor-director Olivia Wilde was similarly unimpressed, taking a tongue-in-cheek jab at the frivolity of it all. “Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess,” she wrote on Instagram.

Perry, being the most recognisable face onboard, drew more heat than her fellow passengers. Many on social media were quick to highlight the irony of it all, especially as Perry wished to “make space for future women” and said her voyage was for “beautiful Earth”, ignoring completely the environmental cost of launching rockets for luxury tourism.

One viral tweet summed it up: “Thinking ‘we have to protect our mother’ about the earth after going on a vanity space flight funded by a billionaire whose company is destroying said planet is just so funny, she’s got jokes.”

Another post compared her carbon footprint to Taylor Swift’s much-criticised private jet usage: “Today Katy Perry burned more emissions than Taylor Swift did during the entire Eras Tour. Taylor brought millions to local economies. This? Nothing.”

And while Perry sang ‘What a Wonderful World’ in orbit, as King revealed upon landing, many found the gesture painfully ironic.

Blue Origin’s slogan, “For the benefit of Earth,” has come under scrutiny, with critics arguing that pouring millions into joyrides for celebrities undercuts the very notion of planetary stewardship.

While the company doesn’t reveal ticket prices, each seat is believed to cost millions. Booking a spot on the company’s website requires a $150,000 deposit, pocket change for the mega-rich, but enough to fund critical environmental, educational, or healthcare initiatives for thousands. In 2021, the company revealed the highest bid for a seat on its New Shepard spacecraft was $28 million. That same year, Star Trek actor William Shatner flew free of charge as a guest of Blue Origin. In 2018, Reuters reported the company was planning to charge passengers at least $200,000 for the ride.

As American politician Nina Turner said, “If Jeff Bezos can send Katy Perry into space, he can pay a wealth tax so every American has debt-free healthcare.”

It’s hard not to see the flight as a marketing ploy and one that backfired spectacularly, as some users pointed out.

Of course, there were also memes about the trip that cost millions but lasted minutes, and managed to achieve nothing.

For a singer whose last comeback fizzled with the widely mocked ‘Woman’s World’, Perry’s trip to space does little to make her inspiring in people’s eyes. If anything, instead of a career reset, it’s made matters worse for her, especially as she prepares to launch her Lifetimes tour later this year.

Perhaps the real question isn’t why Katy Perry went to space, but why anyone still thinks these PR-driven flights serve anyone other than the ultra-rich and their egos. The internet has spoken, and it’s not singing along to ‘What a Wonderful World’.