The space tourism race is intensifying, with more and more companies gearing up to offer commercial flights to space via alternative modes of transport, including balloon capsules.
According to Robb Report, tech company World View has designed a space tourism solution that offers curious travellers the opportunity to explore new perspectives from what CEO Ryan Hartman calls, "the edge of space." It will cost $50,000 for a ticket to ride the 14-million-cubic-foot, helium-filled balloon, with first-class seats, meals and drinks included in the fare.
Once aboard the capsule, passengers will travel to an altitude of roughly 20 miles, with wide viewing ports surrounding each seat providing a clear outlook of space during the six-hour trip at altitude. "You can see everything the others see that go slightly higher," Hartman explained. "You're truly seeing the planet from a vantage point that almost no one has."
World View will offer its very first commercial flights from a spaceport at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, with future voyages slated to depart from several other "world wonder" sites, including the Amazon rainforest, the pyramids of Giza, the Serengeti, the Aurora Borealis, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Great Wall of China.
The company claims that "the World View space tourism experience is the most affordable, longest duration and most accessible space experience on Earth," per CNN. "$50,000 is still a lot of money. But it's our starting point," Hartman told CNN Travel. "And to assist customers in achieving their dream in participating in space tourism, we are offering flexible financing."
While World View wants to make the experience more economic, with tourism duty set to start in 2024, the company hasn't compromised on the quality of its design. For example, they have opted to use helium instead of hydrogen as the balloon's lifting gas, which costs 10 times more than hydrogen but reportedly has a better track record for safety.
Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos both saw their childhood dreams come true this year when they launched themselves to the edge of space. Bezos boarded Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket for its first human spaceflight in July, just nine days after Branson successfully reached the edge of space aboard his Virgin Galactic rocket plane.
Meanwhile, SpaceX launched its first crewed flight into space last year. Elon Musk has since announced plans to launch a satellite to the moon next year, fully funded by dogecoin, but not before he's raced remote-controlled cars on the lunar surface. There are also plans to return to the moon in 2024, and Musk's company is building the lunar lander for that mission.
Thumbnail image credit: World View
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.