Business space flight is becoming increasingly more common, with firms including SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic all transporting paid customers into space over the past several years.
People focused on seeing the earth from an unusual vantage point may soon have an alternative choice. CNBC spoke to a few startups — France-based Zephalto, Florida-based Space Perspective and Arizona-based World View — that aim to hoist tourists to the stratosphere using pressurized capsules and big gas-filled balloons.
“The capsule itself is designed to to hold eight customers and two crew into the stratosphere,” said Ryan Hartman, CEO of World View. “There shall be a middle bar where people can gather, after which, in fact, there shall be a rest room aboard the capsule.”
The balloon rides will last around 6 hours, but is not going to take passengers all of the method to space. Most will reach heights of 15 to 19 miles above the earth’s surface, flying in an area referred to as the stratosphere. The beginning of space is mostly accepted by the U.S. government to be around 80 kilometers, or about 50 miles, above the earth’s surface.
Jane Poynter, founder and co-CEO of Space Perspective, has a differing view.
“There is no such thing as a universal definition of space,” Poynter said. “We’re regulated as a spaceship. If we go over 98,000 feet, we’re a spaceship. Outside the capsule, it’s essentially a vacuum. We’re above 99% of Earth’s atmosphere, which is why the sky is so deep black.”
In comparison with rocket-powered space tourism, the physical sensation that passengers will experience on a stratospheric balloon ride is more comparable to being on an airplane. Passengers is not going to experience weightlessness.
“We do not need any physical requirements to board the balloon,” said Vincent Farret d’Astiès, the founder and chief pilot at Zephalto. “For those who can board a typical plane, you’ll be able to board the balloon.”
All three firms told CNBC that they were pleased with consumer interest. World Views says it sold 1,250 tickets to this point while Space Perspective has sold 1,800. Zephalto didn’t tell CNBC what number of tickets it sold, but said its initial flights were fully booked.
Ticket prices range from $50,000 per seat with World View to around $184,000 with Zephalto. Space Perspective sells tickets to its experience for $125,000 per seat. That is all assuming business service gets off the bottom.
Only Zephalto has performed crewed tests to this point, though not at the corporate’s goal altitude of about 15 miles above the earth’s surface.
To learn more about this emerging market, take a look at the video.
