World View Enterprises invites you to reserve a seat for a ride in the stratosphere aboard its Explorer capsule. You still have to have the means:count around 50,000 US dollars per seat.
In June 2020, the American start-up Space Perspective unveiled its first plans to offer high-altitude balloon travel. The principle:install up to eight passengers in a pressurized cabin called Neptune, fixed under a balloon with a diameter equivalent to that of an American football field to send them into the stratosphere. Space Perspective plans the first commercial flights in 2024 with a ticket price set at 125,000 dollars (about 112,000 euros).
However, Space Perspective is not the only company out there. World View Enterprises is also on board.
Aboard the company's Explorer capsule, the flight itself will last six to eight hours and take passengers to an altitude of at least 30,000 meters . From there, they will be able to appreciate the curvature of the Earth looming against the blackness of space. Passengers will also be able to fly over several natural sites, some of cultural and historical significance.
According to Space.com, each seat will sell for US$50,000. According to the company, the journey to the stratosphere will also be gentle enough to accommodate people of a wide range of ages and fitness levels. The non-profit Space For Humanity has reportedly already purchased all of the available seats on the company's first flight expected in 2024 . However, the passenger selection process has not yet started.
The first operational Explorer flights will take off from Page, Arizona. During their adventure, passengers can enjoy the nearby Navajo and Hopi reservations, among other excursions, before soaring over the Grand Canyon. Eventually, World View also plans to take off from six other sites around the world :from Queensland (Australia) (near the Great Barrier Reef, Kenya), Norway, Amazon Brazil, Mongolia (near the Great Wall of China) and Egypt (near the Great Pyramid of Giza) .
The capsule will include reclining seats, high-speed Internet access, a bathroom and other telescopes, among other amenities. Two World View employees will travel on each flight, one serving as concierge and the other as operator and tour guide. Note that the capsule and the parasailer will be reusable. The balloons will be recycled after the flight into products that will benefit the communities near the take-off site.
Finally, let's remember that this is not World View's first foray into space tourism . A few years ago, the company announced the first plans for a system of capsule balloons called Voyager likely to take off in 2016. In the end, this project did not materialize. In 2019, two of World View's co-founders, Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter, then launched the new company called Space Perspective mentioned above.
