Space Perspectives are taking adventurous travellers to the very edge of space in a giant balloon. The Cape Canaveral, Florida based company plans to develop a massive high-performance balloon, named Spaceship Neptune, to carry a pressurised capsule full of eight passengers and a pilot into the stratosphere.
Ready to take flight as early as next year, Space Perspective won’t actually be taking people to space, but very close to it. The space balloon, which has the same length as a football stadium will launch from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. The balloon will take the capsule 30 kilometres above the earth’s surface to the very edge of space. Once there, the Spaceship Neptune will float for two hours giving its guests a stunning view of the Earth and cosmos. The whole journey will take around six hours, with two hours to reach the stratosphere, two to take in the space views and two hours to come back down and safely land in the ocean.
Space Perspective said that Spaceship Neptune will also be used to carry research payloads into the stratosphere.
“Following the return of human spaceflight from US soil just a few weeks ago, people have never been more excited about space travel” – Founder and Co-CEO Taber MacCallum. “Few endeavours are more meaningful than enabling people to experience the inspiring perspective of our home planet in space for the betterment of all, and that’s what we are accomplishing with Space Perspective”.
While testing is still constantly occurring, excited travellers can book their spot on a future flight now through Space Perspective’s website. Pricing has yet to be finalised, but the company expects the cost to be around $185,000.