United States: A company launches the first balloon trips into space
Steph Deschamps / October 12, 2021
It will cost $125,000 to board the space capsule equipped with a bar and access to social networks
The U.S. company Space Perspective recently opened reservations for the hot air balloon space flights it plans to organize starting in late 2024. The six-hour trip will take place aboard the Neptune spacecraft, a pressurized capsule docked to a space balloon, according to the Florida-based company's website. The latter presented the flight as the safest and most accessible space travel.
Each passenger will nevertheless have to pay 125.000 dollars to take place in the capsule which can accomodate up to eight occupants in addition to the pilot. A deposit of 1,000 dollars per person or 8,000 dollars if the whole spacecraft is booked is to be paid before the trip. The terms are different for the first 25 flights.
The first take-offs will take place in Florida but Space Perspective intends to organize space trips from different places in the world. The first test flight of the high-tech balloon took place on June 18. The balloon took off from Titusville, Florida, without passengers, reports CNN. The cabin was however equipped with cameras giving a taste of the landscape that awaits the future passengers.
During the commercial flights, a bar will be installed in the capsule and the use of social networks will be possible. The toilet located in the center of the spacecraft is described as the toilet with the most beautiful view of the known part of the universe. The balloon is filled with hydrogen and not with helium, a gas whose quantities are limited and reserved in priority for the medical environment.
Space Perspective was founded by Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, creators of the air, water and food supply systems at the Biosphere 2 science site, who lived in the experimental structure for two years.