Not Sure About Boarding A Rocketship? Maybe A Space Balloon Is Right For You.

We’ve all heard the reports about how space tourism is starting to become big business.

But that doesn’t mean everyone is going to be comfortable with the concept of getting into a capsule and being blasted off the planet with the force of powerful rockets. That’s why several startup companies are taking a much different approach.

Up, up and away

There are more ways to send people into space than with rocket fuel, and one intriguing option involves massive balloons. That might sound like science fiction, but three companies are leading the way toward making this mode of space travel a reality.

They have broadly similar goals for filling pressurized capsules with passengers and using gas to lift them into near-orbit. But the plans for achieving those goals differ from one company to the next.

• World View: This company is based in Arizona and CEO Ryan Hartman says its capsule “is designed to carry eight customers and two crew into the stratosphere.” Reaching an altitude of up to 19 miles above the surface of the Earth, each trip is expected to last about six hours.
• Space Perspective: Jane Poynter, the founder of this Florida-based startup said her company’s craft will be “regulated as a spaceship” and will reach “above 99% of Earth’s atmosphere, which is why the sky is so deep black.”
• Zephalto: According to founder Vincent Farret d’Asties, his French company will offer an experience not too different from typical air travel and won’t have “any physical requirements to board the balloon,” adding: “If you can board a standard plane, you can board the balloon.”

All three companies say early trips are already booked, with tickets ranging from about $50,000 for World View to as much as $184,000 for Zephalto.

Chris Agee July 20th, 2024

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