Tickets go on sale for 'spaceballoon' cruises to the stratosphere for $125,000 per person

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    Tickets for Space Perspective’s ‘cruises’ to the stratosphere went on sale Wednesday for $125,000, which provides explorers with a ‘luxurious’ experience at a much lower cost compared to Blue Origin that auctioned off a ticket for $28 million.

    The firm is using giant ‘spaceballoons’ to take up to eight guests into the stratosphere, 20 miles above the surface, for a trip that lasts six hours.

    The announcement follows a private pre-sale period that sold out the first three initial trips – commercial flights are set to takeoff in 2024.

    Passengers will also be able to feast their eyes on 360-degree views of Earth while inside a capsule that provides a bathroom and bar.  

    Jane Poynter, Founder, Co-CEO of Space Perspective told DailyMail.com: ‘At a leisurely pace of 12 mph, propelled by a spaceballoon the size of a football stadium, Spaceship Neptune will rise to above 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere to give our space explorers the quintessential astronaut experience of seeing our Earth in the blackness of space.’ 

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    Tickets for Space Perspective’s ‘cruises’ to the stratosphere went on sale Wednesday for $125,000. The firm is using giant ‘spaceballoons’ to take up to eight guests into the stratosphere for a trip that lasts six hours

    Tickets for Space Perspective’s ‘cruises’ to the stratosphere went on sale Wednesday for $125,000. The firm is using giant ‘spaceballoons’ to take up to eight guests into the stratosphere for a trip that lasts six hours

    Space Perspective is a startup founded in 2020 by Poynter and Taber McCallum, who previously co-founded World View – a firm that deploys sensors to the stratosphere attached to balloons to capture space imagery. 

    By contrast, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin was founded in 2000 and its first commercial flight is slated to happen next month.   

    For those wondering what a trip to the stratosphere aboard Space Perspective’s ‘Neptune One capsule’, the firm says passengers would first arrive at the launch site a few days prior to the flight, Bloomberg reports.

    This would let future flyers tour the facility and get comfortable with the capsule and idea of heading into the stratosphere.

    Pictured taken during Space Perspective's test flight of its giant balloon that soared 20 miles above the surface

    Pictured taken during Space Perspective’s test flight of its giant balloon that soared 20 miles above the surface

    Passengers will soar 20 miles above the surface and feast their eyes on 360-degree views of Earth while inside a capsule that provides a bathroom and ba

    Passengers will soar 20 miles above the surface and feast their eyes on 360-degree views of Earth while inside a capsule that provides a bathroom and ba

    The entire trip, from launch to the stratosphere to landing, will take a total of six hours to complete – with two hours spent in the stratosphere.

    Throughout the flight, travelers will be given breakfast, can order drinks and sit back in their reclining seats.

    There is also Wi-Fi inside the capsule that will allow for live streaming.

    ‘Space Perspective flights marry space exploration with luxury travel for the first time to offer an experience that is smooth and comfortable, an experience we term ‘space calm’,’ said Poynter.

    ‘Space Explorers will soak in, capture and share live the mind-blowing and unprecedented views with people on the ground during the 6-hour journey.  

    When it is time to return to the ground, the giant balloon will begin to deflate and the capsule will eventually splash down in a large body of water.  

    Throughout the flight, travelers will be given breakfast, can order drinks and sit back in their reclining seats. There is also Wi-Fi inside the capsule that will allow for live streaming

    Throughout the flight, travelers will be given breakfast, can order drinks and sit back in their reclining seats. There is also Wi-Fi inside the capsule that will allow for live streaming

    The entire trips, from launch to the stratosphere to landing, will take a total of six hours to complete – two hours is spent in the stratosphere

    The entire trips, from launch to the stratosphere to landing, will take a total of six hours to complete – two hours is spent in the stratosphere

    Space Perspective’s recovery system is similar to the one used by SpaceX, as a special boat with sophisticated modeling will position itself right beside the landing spot.

    It will then lift the capsule onto its deck and bring the passengers back to shore.

    Space Perspective expects to conduct around 25 flights in its first year of operation and lead up to 100 flights per location per year. 

    And the first launchpad will be at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. 

    Poynter said Space Perspective has already sold 25 tickets within the first hour of announcing reservations. 

    ‘People have bought entire flights to include friends and family, and in several cases they have purchased more than one flight,’ she continued. 

    The announcement comes just days after Space Perspective conducted its first test flight of its spaceballoon.

    On June 18, the company launched a prototype of its stratospheric balloon 20 miles over Florida at 5:23am ET.

    Its Neptune Once spaceship test vehicle took off from the Space Coast Air and Spaceport in Cape Canaveral and hit its planned altitude of 108,409 feet where it hovered for six hours before splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico.

    The announcement comes just days after Space Perspective conducted its first test flight of its space balloon

    On June 18, the company launched a prototype of its stratospheric balloon 20 miles over Florida at 5:23am ET

    The announcement comes just days after Space Perspective conducted its first test flight of its spaceballoon

    Poynter said in a statement on June 18: ‘It is an incredible privilege launching from the space coast, where the history of human spaceflight was forged over the past decades and continues to build momentum today.

    ‘Flying on Spaceship Neptune will be an extraordinary experience for our Space Explorers.

    Space Perspective may have hit a major milestone, but it will not be the first company to send tourists to space – Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are leading the industry. 

    Bezos recently closed an auction for a seat aboard its first crewed spaceflight, in which an unnamed bidder paid $28 million.

    The July 20 launch – which coincides with the 51st anniversary of the moon landing – will be the first test of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket with people on board, kicking off the company’s space tourism business.

    SpaceX is working with Axiom Space, which is building a privately-owned successor to the ISS.

    The team plans to use Falcon 9 rockets to send tourists to space, with the first mission heading to the International Space Station in the second quarter of 2021.

    However,  Poynter said Space Perspective is not competing with Blue Origin or SpaceX, as it provides a different experience.

    ‘We are not taking people into space in a rocket ship, there is no rigorous training, and no high G-forces with only a few minutes to peer out the window; our experience is as easy and as comfortable as flying on a plane, Poynter said.

    ‘It’s a gentle six-hour journey with unprecedented views on a comfortable, pressurized capsule propelled by a spaceballoon large enough to fit the size of a football stadium, the same kind of spaceballoon that NASA has flown a thousand times over the years.

    ‘It is currently a very exciting time for space tourism with huge demand that will outstrip supply for years to come. The human spaceflight companies all offer different experiences and this environment is truly a rising tide lifts all boats.’

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