We’ve just been hearing from the six women who started their day jetting off to space in Blue Origin’s New Shepard vessel. Here are their key takeaways:

Lauren Sánchez said the flight was a “profound” experience and that she’s returned “humbled”. She added she now has an urge to “protect this planet”.

Katy Perry spoke about her daughter Daisy, and the flower she took to space in her honour. She said the flight “wasn’t a ride”, it was a journey and that today they all felt like they belonged.

Gayle King returned to Earth feeling like she “could do anything”. She said that the only surprise was how “calming and peaceful” space was.

Kerianne Flynn also reflected on the sense of “peace” she felt in space, comparing the experience to a film. She added: “I was not only a witness to that film, but I was also a storyteller”.

Amanda Nguyen described her time in the capsule as “such a phenomenal dream”. She also shared how she’d told herself before the mission to “never give up”.

Aisha Bowe proudly waved a Bahamas flag in the capsule, and spoke on becoming “first Bahamian woman in space”. She celebrated the moment with her 91-year-old grandfather, who was sat in the audience.

One last question was asked to Katy Perry – would she like her daughter to go to space?

She laughs and says the first thing her three-year-old daughter said when she had landed was “what are we doing today?”.

Perry goes on to give the experience a 10/10 review, saying to her daughter: “Daisy, go to space”.

In our next post, we’ll bring you a recap of all the key moments from the press briefing.

Some more from the news conference now, Katy Perry was asked if she knew before take off that she was going to sing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”.

She began by saying: “I’m not sure if any other pop stars have been to space”.

She adds that she “wasn’t sure” if she was going to sing at all, but she knows she wasn’t going to sing one of her own songs as “it’s not about me”.

“I feel that anybody who is criticising doesn’t really understand what’s happening here,” King says, following some people’s questioning of the costs attached to the mission.

King says that they have had a huge, positive response from young women and young girls.

Sánchez jumps in saying she gets “fired up” about the criticism and would love to have the naysayers come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees who “put their heart and soul into” the missions.

The crew of six women have now left the stage, as they exited the song Firework by Katy Perry played in the background.

We’ll continue to bring you more from the briefing in our next posts.

Lauren Sánchez is asked if she envisions flights to space being on the same level of affordability as commercial flights here on Earth.

She says the Wright brothers, who were aircraft pioneers in the early 20th century, never got to see the 747 aeroplane flying across the country.

The journalist adds that it may seem “fantastical” now, but “I know Jeff [Bezos] and I know Blue Origin”.

Sánchez says we may see it in future generations: “Blue Origin is building the road to space.”

When asked how a female-only crew in space could make change for others, Katy Perry says she hopes the world can see the “unity” between the six women.

Perry says the crew were not taking up space but “making space”.

She reiterates that the flight wasn’t a ride, it was a journey and that today they all felt like they belonged.

Perry says the experience involves “surrendering” and leaving loved ones behind: “You’re hoping you get another chance to love them again”.

The crew are now taking questions from the press starting with one on their experience in space – from the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

Gayle King says she was so well trained and so well prepared that she wasn’t surprised by that much.

But what did surprise her was how calming and peaceful she found the whole experience.

Rocket scientist Aisha Bowe is introduced as the “first Bahamian woman in space”.

She says Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 spacecraft landed in the Grand Bahama in 1961. “Today I had the opportunity to be on a flight that mimicked that trajectory,” she adds.

She points to her 91-year-old grandfather, who was watching the 11-minute spaceflight today, as the audience cheers and claps for him.

“What a beautiful world we have,” Amanda Nguyen says, adding that being able to operate science on the capsule in space was “such a phenomenal dream” for her.

Nguyen has previously spoken about how she gave up pursuing a career in science to be a civil rights activist.

She speaks again of the promise she made to herself to “never give up”.

She adds that she wants every survivor who has had a dream “deferred” to know that their “dreams are valid” – even if that dream is to go to space.

Kerianne Flynn is up next, she says a couple of hours on from the flight she is feeling “a lot more calm”.

She adds that there was a sense of “peace” in space: “I think I blacked out for most of it, except for when I was looking out the window.”

She concludes: “As a filmmaker I almost felt as if I was like I was watching a really intimate film, and I was not only a witness to that film, but I was also a storyteller.”

There are cheers for Gayle King, as the interviewer points out that “she did it”.

King has previously spoken about being nervous about the trip.

She says she is proud of herself and “so proud of us”.

She jokes that she now might get her ears pierced, which she hadn’t in the past because it would be painful.

“I walked out thinking I could do anything,” she adds.

We’re now hearing from Katy Perry, who’s asked to share why she brought a daisy with her to space.

She says sometimes people consider daisies as “weeds” but they are “so resilient, and flowers for me, I believe, are like god’s laughter” and “god’s smile”.

The pop singer says she brought the flower with her for her daughter, who is called Daisy, and for “mother Earth”.

She adds that she believes people can see the “beauty of mother Earth” in a single daisy.

For the first time, we’ve seen the inside of the cabin as the crew made their journey to space.

In the footage, they are floating around in weightless state – as they reach zero gravity.

We can see Katy Perry holding up the daisy and a butterfly, as Aisha Bowe holds up a Bahamas card.

We can hear them all gasping at seeing the moon.

Speaking first is Lauren Sánchez, Jeff Bezos’s fiancée, who says she’s still processing the experience but the one word she would use to describe Earth is “profound”.

From space, Earth was quiet and alive, Sánchez says, as she reflects that we have one planet.

Amid tears, she says the experience made her come back with an open heart.

“Protect this planet we’re on, this is the only one we’ve got,” she says, adding that she is humbled by it all.

The six women who have just been to space are still in their space suits, after walking on stage while Sia’s Unstoppable played in the background.

There is a short applause as Audrey Powers, vice president of mission and flight operations at Blue Origin, is welcomed on stage.

She says she is “immensely proud” of the crew and asks all astronauts in the audience to stand up, which is met by applause and cheers.

We’re now hearing from the crew who were aboard Blue Origins New Shepard 31 flight into space a little earlier.

As a reminder, the six women who went to space are Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Amanda Nguyen, Kerianne Flynn, Aisha Bowe and Katy Perry. The spacecraft is autonomous, meaning there was no pilot on board.

We’ll be bringing you regular text updates as we hear from the crew and you can follow along by clicking Watch live at the top of the page.

There’s been little change in the briefing room where we’re expecting to hear from the crew of Blue Origin’s New Shepard flight to space.

Six empty chairs remain on the stage as the six women who spent just over ten minutes flying into space, and landing back on Earth, are still yet to arrive.

People are still standing around and there is some activity, but the stars of the show aren’t in the room – that has a distinctive blue tinge to it.

We’re seeing pictures now from the news conference that we’re expecting shortly.

The room is starting to fill up but the six chairs on the stage, earmarked for the crew, remain empty.

In the background is a sign saying NS-31, which stands for the name of the vessel that took them into space, New Shepard 31.

Stay with us for the latest updates.

While we wait for the news conference to begin, here’s a recap of how the journey to space unfolded – in video form.

The crew included Katy Perry, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez.

The flight lasted around 11 minutes and reached a height of about 60 miles above Earth.

We’re expecting to hear again from the all-female crew, during a news conference.

We heard their initial reactions as they touched back down to Earth and we’ll be getting more insight from them shortly.

You can follow along by pressing Watch live at the top of this page when it begins at around 16:30 BST. Stay with us.