Bye, Earth: You can now reserve a balloon ride to space for $125,000 or P6 million
Setting sail in 2025.
Space tourism is becoming more and more accessible as a Florida company called Space Perspective is opening slots to reserve balloon flights to visit space. That is, if you’re part of the population that has $125,000 (Around P6 million) to spare.
The flights will take place on the company's Spaceship Neptune, a polyethylene balloon-borne pressurized capsule that will take passengers 100,000 feet above the Earth in the stratosphere, or the second layer of our planet's atmosphere. Spaceship Neptune is also hydrogen-filled to cater to a zero-emission flight.
The voyage will take about six hours, with only eight individuals allowed on each balloon capsule. Once airborne, the spherical shape of the balloon will allow passengers to have a full 360-view of space, however far their eyesight may go. After sight-seeing, a two-hour descent will take place until the balloon lands on the ocean, where they will be transported safely to shore.
Meanwhile, the payment will be refundable and passengers don't need astronaut training nor even a spacesuit to visit the cosmos, as the $125,000 will cover the full experience in the cushy luxury capsule with a fully-stocked bar and even social media access.
Based on rendered photos from Space Perspective's Instagram, the experience promises top-of-the-line service similar to that of a luxury hotel.
"We’re committed to fundamentally changing the way people have access to space — both to perform much-needed research to benefit life on Earth and to affect how we view and connect with our planet," Space Perspective founder Jane Poynter shared in a statement.
Poynter serves as co-CEO of Space Perspective with Taber MacCallum, the current Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. The pair were responsible for the air, food, and water systems for Arizona's Biosphere 2 research facility.
"Today, it is more crucial than ever to see Earth as a planet, a spaceship for all humanity and our global biosphere."
You can book your flight at spaceperspective.com/bookyourspaceflight. According to their page, over 300 seats have already been reserved, with all spaceflights for 2024 sold out. The available reservation flights for 2025 also cater to any country based on their sign-up page.
Would you dare to take flight?
Photos from Space Perspective