The universe and space are considered to be places that stimulate human curiosity and exploration. Perhaps, everyone wants to set foot in outer space at least once, to see the universe or the earth where we live. And now this story is no longer out of reach thanks to the remarkable development of space technology.
In mid-June, the Florida-based Space Perspectives planned to launch paying passengers and research equipment into the stratosphere using a pressurized capsule attached to a balloon called Spaceship Neptune. The vehicle is expected to make its first test flights early next year - 2021. If the tests go well, tickets will go on sale in 2024.
"We are working to change the way people approach space and to conduct essential research that will benefit life on Earth and impact the way we treat our planet!" - Space Perspective co-founder and CEO Jane Poynter shared on June 18.
Spaceship Neptune can accommodate a pilot and eight passengers in its capsule. Inside, it has seating, a bar, a bathroom and large windows that allow passengers to observe Earth against the blackness of space. The ship will take off from the former Space Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Spaceship Neptune will fly east over the Atlantic Ocean during winter flights and west over the Gulf of Mexico during summer, depending on the wind.
Spaceship Neptune will take about two hours to reach its maximum altitude of about 30,000 meters, lifted gently by a 200-meter-high balloon filled with hydrogen. Explaining the choice of hydrogen as the lifting gas instead of helium, Taber MacCallum, co-founder and CEO of Space Perspective, said it was a logical alternative because helium is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain due to its use in medical applications and rocket launches.
The craft will fly for two hours in the stratosphere and spend another two hours descending. Spaceship Neptune will land in the ocean and be towed to shore by a recovery ship, similar to SpaceX's Crew Dragon. Spaceship Neptune will be reusable, but a new balloon will be needed for each flight. According to MacCallum and Poynter, the initial balloon experience will cost about $125,000. Space Perspective's goal is to launch 500 flights a year from the old Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida by the end of the decade.
