world view space travel

Start-up World View sells 1,000 tickets for balloon trips near edge of space

World View aims to start passenger flights in 2024.

A space balloon start-up, which plans to fly paying customers to the edge of space as early as 2024, has signed up its 1,000th customer, making it the most sought-after space tourism operator in the world. 

The Tucson, Arizona-based World View sells rides on its space balloons for $50,000 per seat, about one ninth of the price of a spaceflight ticket with Virgin Galactic . 

Relying on helium-filled balloons, World View won't deliver the full space tourism experience with weightlessness , but its customers will see planet Earth from 23 miles (37 kilometers) above, almost three times higher than the cruising altitude of a passenger jet. At this altitude, one can observe the curvature of Earth as well as the star-studded blackness of the sky, the company said in a statement on Wednesday (May 4). The experience is more of a slow-burn, six to eight hours, compared to the adrenalin-filled rocket-powered flights offered by Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin .

Related: The rise of space tourism could affect Earth's climate in unforeseen ways, scientists worry

To increase the allure, World View plans to launch its flights from some of the world's most spectacular locations including the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the great pyramids of Egypt. Flights from the Grand Canyon spaceport have already sold out for the first year of operations, the company said in the statement. 

"Reaching 1,000 reservations underscores the passion, excitement and interest for this unique experience that World View offers," World View CEO and President Ryan Hartman said in the statement. "The fact that the Grand Canyon spaceport flight has sold out for the first year also showcases the market demand and growing interest in space tourism."

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Reaching the 1,000 customer mark means World View now has the longest waiting list of customers of all space tourism companies, the company added in the statement. According to data from November 2021, Virgin Galactic has over 700 people on its waiting list . Blue Origin has not released its passenger reservation information. 

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World View is, however, considerably more accessible not only to fly to near space with, but also to get on the company's waiting list. World View only asks for a $500 deposit, compared to the $150,000 deposit requested by Virgin Galactic .(A suborbital trip on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo space planes costs about $450,000 a ticket.)

World View is not the only company hoping to start a space-balloon near-space tourism business. The Florida-based Space Perspective aims to fly stratospheric balloon flights with its passenger capsule Spaceship Neptune in 2024. Zero2Infinity of Barcelona, Spain has been working on its technology for more than a decade. The company, however, has struggled to secure sufficient funding. 

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Tereza is a London-based science and technology journalist, aspiring fiction writer and amateur gymnast. Originally from Prague, the Czech Republic, she spent the first seven years of her career working as a reporter, script-writer and presenter for various TV programmes of the Czech Public Service Television. She later took a career break to pursue further education and added a Master's in Science from the International Space University, France, to her Bachelor's in Journalism and Master's in Cultural Anthropology from Prague's Charles University. She worked as a reporter at the Engineering and Technology magazine, freelanced for a range of publications including Live Science, Space.com, Professional Engineering, Via Satellite and Space News and served as a maternity cover science editor at the European Space Agency.

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TUCSON, Ariz.--( BUSINESS WIRE )--World View, a global leader in stratospheric exploration and flight, will participate in a panel discussion at SXSW 2023 in collaboration with several authorities in exploration and space travel that explores space tourism as a medium for purposeful travel to experience our planet more fully. The session, Exploring–and Experiencing–Earth via Space Tourism, will take place on Wednesday, March 15, at 4:00 p.m. CDT as part of the conference’s Travel & Leisure track.

Bringing together leaders at the forefront of space exploration and expedition travel, the panel invites attendees to learn about emerging capabilities in space tourism and the transformative power of the final frontier. The panelists will explore how this new mode of travel meets the needs of the modern traveler as they seek more immersive experiences that ultimately lead to a better vision for the future of our planet.

Panelists include:

• Kathryn Sullivan, PhD, Former NASA Astronaut, Member of President Biden’s Council Of Advisors On Science and Technology: Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan is a former NASA astronaut, U.S. Navy officer, and crew member on three Space Shuttle missions. She was selected as one of six women among 35 astronaut candidates in NASA’s Astronaut Group 8 (1978) – the first group to include women. She became the first woman to be certified to wear a USAF pressure suit. During her first mission, STS-41-G, she performed the first extra-vehicular activity by an American woman. On her second, STS-31, she helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. On the third, STS-45, she served as Payload Commander on the first Spacelab mission for NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. She served as a top administrator at NOAA and was recently appointed by President Joe Biden to serve on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
• Richard Garriott, President of The Explorers Club: Richard Garriott is an avid explorer, having traveled around the globe from the jungles of the Amazon to the South Pole, from orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station as a citizen astronaut to Challenger Deep, the deepest point in our Oceans.
• Ryan M. Hartman, President & Chief Executive Officer of World View: Ryan M. Hartman is the president and chief executive officer of World View. Hartman joined World View as CEO in early 2019 and has since led World View to become a purpose-driven, global brand that continues to pioneer humanity’s exploration and understanding of the Earth from the stratosphere. Prior to World View, Hartman served as president and chief executive officer of Insitu (acquired by Boeing), a pioneer in the design, development and manufacturing of unmanned aircraft.
• (Moderator) Rachel Lyons, Executive Director of Space for Humanity: Rachel Lyons is the Executive Director of Space for Humanity (S4H), a non-profit organization which aims to use the spaceflight experience as a way to expand our perspective on Earth. Under her leadership, S4H sent the first woman from the African continent and first Mexican-born woman to space. S4H has received public support from the space industry's most prominent leaders, including Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, NASA astronauts and others. During her tenure, Lyons’ team has cultivated a highly engaged online community of millions across the globe.

“Commercial access to space offers an entirely new perspective of our planet and humanity; one with the power to catalyze a radically improved future,” said Hartman. “We are seeing rapidly growing interest not just in expeditionary travel but meaningful travel. A journey to the edge of space that departs from one of Earth’s natural wonders is the ultimate manifestation of this desire.”

To attend the session, Exploring–and Experiencing–Earth via Space Tourism, register for the 2023 SXSW Conference HERE .

To learn more about World View, visit worldview.space.

About World View

World View is a leading global stratospheric exploration company, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. World View has a demonstrated record of accomplishments in the stratospheric ballooning industry, and is leading a new era of stratospheric exploration to take humanity’s understanding and appreciation of Earth to inspired new heights. With a sharper vision for a brighter future, World View exists to inspire, create and explore new perspectives for a radically improved future. Through its legacy remote sensing business and Stratollite® imaging, and exciting future capabilities with research and engineering missions and space tourism and exploration, World View is working to ensure its ultimate objective: honor the planet so that future generations will feel blessed to call it home. For more information, visit worldview. space.

About Leo Holdings Corp. II and Leo Holdings

Leo Holdings Corp. II (“Leo”), currently listed on the NYSE under the ticker LHC, is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that seeks to invest in entrepreneurially driven growth companies that aim to disrupt existing industries or business models, as well businesses positioned to thrive in the evolving digital information age where changing consumer behavior creates the opportunity for outsized returns. Leo Holdings Corp. II is part of a special purpose acquisition company initiative, Leo Holdings. Leo Holdings was formed by the principals of Lion Capital, which is led by Founder and Managing Partner, Lyndon Lea. Leo Holdings’ management team has extensive experience owning and operating businesses on a global scale and has collaboratively worked together for over 20 years. For more information, visit https://leoholdings.com/ .

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release, including regarding World View's proposed business combination with Leo (the “Business Combination”), Leo's ability to consummate the proposed transactions, the anticipated benefits of the proposed transactions and the combined company’s future financial performance, including the combined company’s strategy, future operations, estimated financial position, estimated revenue growth, prospects expectations, estimated market growth, size and opportunity, estimated development timeline and process, expected approvals from regulators and related timing, plans and objectives of management, and World View’s future capabilities, product and market opportunities, ability to obtain and maintain strategic relationships, remote sensing capabilities and growth potential, and expectations regarding the growth of the remote sensing and space tourism markets, among others, are forward looking statements. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of World View’s and Leo’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of World View and Leo. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: the inability of the parties to successfully or timely consummate the Business Combination, including the risk that any required regulatory approvals are not obtained, are delayed or are subject to unanticipated conditions that could adversely affect the combined company or the expected benefits of the Business Combination is not obtained; the risk that the Business Combination may not be completed by Leo's business combination deadline; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination; risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information with respect to World View; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the definitive business combination agreement; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on World View’s business relationships, operating results, and business generally; risks that the Business Combination disrupts current plans and operations of World View; risks relating to World View’s capital needs and ability to obtain adequate financing; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against World View or against Leo related to the Business Combination or any related agreements; the ability to maintain the listing of Leo's securities on a national securities exchange; changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political, and legal conditions and changes in the combined capital structure; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the Business Combination, and identify and realize additional opportunities; risks related to the rollout of World View’s business and the timing of expected business milestones; the effects of competition on World View’s business; the risks of operating and effectively managing growth in evolving and uncertain macroeconomic conditions, such as high inflation and recessionary environments; the risks to World View’s business if internal processes and information technology systems are not properly maintained; risks associated with World View’s operational dependence on independent contractors and third parties; risks associated with World View’s reliance on certain suppliers, including recent global supply chain slowdowns and disruptions; risks and uncertainties related to World View’s international operations, including possible restrictions on cross border investments which could harm World View’s financial position; ability to achieve improved margins and cost efficiency; continuing risks relating to the COVID 19 pandemic; and risks associated with World View’s ability to develop its products and achieve regulatory approvals or milestones on the timelines expected or at all. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Please carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of the final prospectus to Leo's registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333-249676), the registration statement on Form S-4 to be filed with the SEC by Leo and other documents filed or that may be filed by Leo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that none of Leo or World View presently know or that Leo or World View currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Leo’s and World View’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. Leo and World View anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause Leo’s and World View’s assessments to change. However, while Leo and World View may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Leo and World View specifically disclaim any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Leo’s and World View’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements. Certain market data information in this press release is based on the estimates of World View and Leo management. World View and Leo obtained the industry, market and competitive position data used throughout this press release from internal estimates and research as well as from industry publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. World View and Leo believe their estimates to be accurate as of the date of this press release. However, this information may prove to be inaccurate because of the method by which World View or Leo obtained some of the data for its estimates or because this information cannot always be verified due to the limits on the availability and reliability of raw data, the voluntary nature of the data gathering process.

Important Information

Leo intends to file with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 (as amended or supplemented, the “Registration Statement”), which will include a preliminary proxy statement/prospectus of Leo, which will be both the proxy statement to be distributed to holders of Leo’s ordinary shares in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the vote by Leo’s shareholders with respect to the proposed Business Combination and related matters as may be described in the Registration Statement, as well as the prospectus relating to the offer and sale of the securities to be issued in the Business Combination. After the Registration Statement is declared effective, Leo will mail a definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents to its shareholders. Leo’s shareholders and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus, and amendments thereto, and the definitive proxy statement/prospectus in connection with Leo’s solicitation of proxies for its shareholders’ meeting to be held to approve the Business Combination and related matters because the proxy statement/prospectus will contain important information about Leo and World View and the proposed Business Combination.

The definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to shareholders of Leo as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed Business Combination and related matters. Shareholders may obtain copies of the proxy statement/prospectus, when available, without charge, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: Leo Holdings Corp. II, 21 Grosvenor Pl, London SW1X 7HF, United Kingdom or by emailing [email protected] .

Participants in the Solicitation

This press release is not a solicitation of a proxy from any investor or securityholder. However, Leo, World View and Leo Investors II Limited Partnership and their respective directors, officers and other members of their management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Leo’s shareholders with respect to the proposed business combination and related matters. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of the directors and officers of Leo and World View in the proxy statement/prospectus relating to the proposed business combination when it is filed with the SEC. These documents may be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release is for informational purposes only and is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities or a solicitation of any vote of approval, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and otherwise in accordance with applicable law.

Jack Taylor PR [email protected]

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New company Space Perspective wants to take you to the stratosphere via high-altitude balloon

The company is targeting its first uncrewed flight in 2021.

By Loren Grush

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The original founders of World View Enterprises — a company aimed at using giant balloons to send payloads into the stratosphere — are launching a new venture together, one that will use those same massive balloons to send people leisurely above the Earth. Named Space Perspective , the now distinct company is focused on floating paying customers up to the edge of “space,” where they can get a rare view of the curvature of the Earth.

Such a relaxed space travel experience has long been the aim of Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, the co-CEOs of Space Perspective who are announcing the launch of the company today. They originally started World View with tourist flights as the primary end game, but they’re now making a separate enterprise to focus on the goal full-time. The idea is to give people a spectacular view of Earth from above, without having to strap into a rocket and shoot up into the sky at thousands of miles an hour, as other companies plan to do. “We came right back to the idea of using these high-altitude balloon systems to be able to take people really gently to the edge of space,” Poynter tells The Verge .

Taking people “really gently to the edge of space”

Technically, Space Perspective doesn’t plan to send people to actual space. The company wants to fly customers up to 100,000 feet, or close to 19 miles high. It’s a much lower altitude than what many consider to be the edge of space at 50 miles up , so you wouldn’t get the full space experience. Space Perspective crews wouldn’t experience weightlessness, for instance (though they’ll feel about three pounds lighter). Still, the team argues people will be located above 99 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere, and that their balloon vessel will be regulated like a spacecraft through the FAA’s Office of Commercial Spaceflight.

Plus, the real point is the view. “We say we’re going to the edge of space, but the experience is really what astronaut [and Space Perspective advisor] Jeff Hoffman calls the authentic experience,” MacCallum tells The Verge . “Because for him, seeing the Earth from space — with time and quiet and being relaxed and really being able to contemplate what he’s seeing — that’s what he calls the authentic experience, and so that’s what we’re really concentrating on.”

Space tourism that sends people to the edge of space and back has been slow to get into full swing, with companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic still a ways off from entering commercial operations. Those vehicles rely on rocket engines to get people off of Earth, and they go much higher — between 50 and 62 miles up. Poynter contends that their system is very different from these rockets — notably lacking a rocket engine — so they don’t expect to run into some of the same problems.

To get to the stratosphere, customers would ride inside a spherical white capsule called Neptune that looks a bit like a spinning top, with wide glass windows providing a clear view of the Earth below. The “propellant” would be a massive translucent balloon filled with hydrogen, which would ascend at the breakneck pace of 12 miles per hour. Eight passengers could fit inside the craft, along with one pilot to make sure everything runs smoothly, according to the company. The entire flight is meant to last about six hours, with two hours spent hovering above the Earth. A bar and a bathroom will be situated in the center, and there will absolutely be a Wi-Fi connection of some kind.

Some kind of satellite communication will be key for talking with ground control, but it will also allow riders to post photos from the sky. And then if people want to do some kind of special event on board — such as a wedding or art show — there will be other options. “For special events where we really want to livestream something from the Neptune, we will have a swankier communication system that will be able to do really high resolution, broadband live streaming,” says Poynter.

It’s an ambitious idea, but the two CEOs have a history of working on fantastical projects together. Poynter and MacCallum both participated in the much hyped — and controversial — Biosphere 2 experiment back in the early ‘90s, where a small group of people attempted to live in a closed-loop ecosystem to simulate what it would be like to live on Mars. They also have experience working on a high-altitude balloon flight that carried a person to the stratosphere. While working together at their other space company, called Paragon, they created a life-support system for Alan Eustace, the former senior vice president of engineering at Google, who broke the record for the highest altitude jump from a balloon from above 135,000 feet.

there will absolutely be a Wi-Fi connection

Inspired by the idea of travel-by-balloon, they started World View together in 2012. But that company has started to focus less on tourism and more on science. World View has been developing a new product called the Stratollite — a vehicle that acts akin to a satellite without actually orbiting the Earth. It consists of a metallic package — filled with sensors, instruments, and more — that travels to the stratosphere underneath a balloon. Up there, the Stratollite is meant to hover over one place on the Earth for an extended period of time, collecting data of the surface below. The company is currently planning to deploy fleets of Stratollites over North and Central America starting this summer .

With World View so focused on Stratollites, Poynter eventually stepped down as CEO in order to keep the dream of balloon-travel tourism alive. Poynter says they’ve done market research on their idea and that there’s plenty of interest from potential customers. To keep up the momentum, Space Perspective has set up shop at Cape Canaveral, Florida, leasing a building from NASA at Kennedy’s Space Center. They plan to launch their first uncrewed test flight from Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility — a runway where NASA’s Space Shuttle used to land — sometime early next year. That flight will take up some scientific payloads, which the company will announce in the coming months.

There’s still work to be done before regular flights are ready, though, especially when it comes to landing. While carrying passengers, Space Perspective plans for its Neptune capsule to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico following flights from the Cape. The company is reliant on the direction of the winds for where the vehicle ends up, as there won’t be options for controlling the direction of the vehicle in flight. That means they’ll need a recovery boat to come pick up the capsule from the seas. Space Perspective says it has been talking to the people who recover SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule from the ocean to figure out that best way to do that. This splashdown method also means the company can launch from other areas, like Hawaii or Alaska.

Space Perspective plans for its Neptune capsule to splash down in the ocean

The company also needs to ensure that the ride will be safe for passengers, which Poynter and MacCallum insist it will be. The Neptune capsule will have a life support system and pressure control, and though the vehicle will mostly be flown by people on the ground, the designated pilot on board can assist customers if some kind of problem arises. And if the balloon suffers some kind of leak or failure, a reserve parachute will be on hand to bring the capsule down safely, according to MacCallum.

There may just be other kinks to work out on the way though. World View’s Stratollite development, for example, has taken longer than expected, as the company has spent years trying to extend the amount of time the vehicle can last while in the air. Poynter and MacCallum say that those issues shouldn’t impact the development of their new system, since they are less focused on navigating their capsule the same way World View handles its Stratollite. “Altitude control and working that out for the Stratollite was a huge undertaking and very different than human flight,” says MacCallum. “These are really very, very different worlds, and while they’re both balloons going into the stratosphere, that’s really where the similarities end.”

With all these things in mind, Space Perspective still has very big plans for the future. Poynter and MacCallum say their Neptune capsule will be reusable, and they hope to get 1,000 flights out of each vehicle. Eventually they plan to fly up to 100 flights a year, and ticket prices, while still high, will be lower than other space tourism ventures, they claim. Poynter expects each ticket to be less than half of what Virgin Galactic charges, which is $250,000 a seat. She expects tickets with finalized prices to go on sale next year.

But really, Space Perspective says it wants everyone to be able to enjoy this method of travel. The company has also partnered with Space for Humanity, a non-profit that hopes to provide all-expenses-paid trips to space. Space Perspective also wants to fly artists, political leaders, spiritual leaders, and more, to help them see the world differently. “The astronauts who talked about seeing the one human family and no borders and one small planet... really resonated with us,” MacCallum says. “We’ve always thought that that’s a really important set of ideas, to have that visceral experience to help move the needle.”

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This Company Will Take You to the Edge of Space in a Hot Air Balloon for $50,000

It's the most affordable form of space travel yet.

World View , a stratospheric ballooning company, announced an expansion of services that includes its new edge-of-space tourism experience, which takes place inside a high-tech hot air balloon.

The edge-of-space flights will lift eight participants and two World View crew members in a zero-pressure stratospheric balloon and pressurized space capsule to 100,000 feet, or nearly 23 miles into the stratosphere. In total, the experience will last for anywhere between six and 12 hours.

The journey begins at World View's spaceports located across the globe. Guests will arrive ahead of their flight for a five-day experience that includes excursions so they can immerse themselves in the surrounding area. The spaceport locations include the Grand Canyon in the United States, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland Australia, the Serengeti in Kenya, an Aurora Borealis spot in Norway, Amazonia in Brazil, the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and the Great Wall of China in Mongolia.

Now, here's the best part. The flights are priced at $50,000 per person. Though still quite a bit more expensive than a regular plane ride, it's a marked discount from other space tourism operations, some of which can run for nearly $500,000 per seat .

"There are some really great space tourism companies that are building some amazing experiences to take their customers into space. We celebrate their accomplishments in pushing the space tourism industry forward," Ryan Hartman, World View president and CEO, told Travel + Leisure . "We've opted to build a different type of space tourism experience, one that will allow more humans to view the curvature of Earth, the darkness of space, and the fragility of our planet. In order to increase humanity's access to space tourism , we felt it was important to price our experience to be more affordable to more people."

But, affordability isn't the only goal. It's also about accessibility for all.

"We wanted to make sure that it was accessible for people of all physical abilities. We've designed the experience to feature a very gentle ascent and descent that might be comparable (or even gentler) than a takeoff and landing of a commercial airplane," Hartman added. "In addition to increasing affordability and accessibility, we also want to maximize the value of the experience. This comes in two forms: time and place. From a time perspective, we want to make sure you have as much time as possible at apogee to truly appreciate this awe-inspiring vantage point. You'll spend over six hours hovering 100,000 feet above Earth, giving you ample time to rediscover the beauty and fragility of our planet."

Those interested in joining the flight can put in a deposit starting today with just $500. World View's first commercial flights are expected to begin in early 2024 with the non-profit Space for Humanity, which already secured the inaugural commercial flight.

"We are very excited about securing World View's first commercial capsule," Rachel Lyons, executive director of Space for Humanity, said in the statement. "Our mission is to expand access to space to all and in doing so, support the transformation of our world's most ambitious leaders so they can use their experience in space to create positive change here on Earth. This is a groundbreaking time for space tourism and we're looking forward to giving more people the opportunity to experience it for themselves."

Check out more about the experience and book your spot here .

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Stratospheric ballooning company World View to go public in SPAC deal

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SEATTLE — World View, a company that is developing stratospheric balloon platforms as an alternative to spacecraft for research and tourism, announced Jan. 13 it will go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger.

World View said it will merge with Leo Holdings Corp. II, a SPAC on the New York Stock Exchange, in a deal that would value the company at $350 million. The companies said they expect the deal to close in the second quarter of the year. Bloomberg first reported the impending deal Jan. 12.

World View would receive up to $121 million in gross proceeds from the SPAC, assuming there are no redemptions by shareholders. However, many SPAC deals have seen high redemption rates, where SPAC shareholders ask for their money back rather than participate in the merged company, reducing the proceeds.

The companies said in the announcement that the gross proceeds may be accompanied by up to $75 million in additional financing, but the announcement offered no further details about the proposed financing. It is not uncommon for SPAC deals to be accompanied by a private investment round.

World View says it will use the funding from the SPAC deal to expand its business developing stratospheric platforms that can complement, or compete with, satellites. The company has conducted more than 120 stratospheric flights, working with a variety of companies and government agencies.

“Today’s announcement represents a major milestone in World View’s business model,” Ryan Hartman, president and chief executive of World View, said in the statement. “This merger with Leo allows us to scale our demonstrated expertise and strong foundation of strategic partnerships to meet the growing market demand for data and analytics from the stratosphere.”

World View was founded a decade ago to provide stratospheric tourist flights, offering views meant to emulate those from space. The company later pivoted to uncrewed balloon platforms it called “stratollites” that could carry communications, imaging or research payloads for applications that traditionally used either satellites or aircraft.

In October 2021, World View announced it would return to the tourism business , developing a balloon system and pressurized cabin to take up to 10 people to altitudes of about 30 kilometers for flights lasting 6 to 12 hours. The company says 1,200 people have reserved seats on those flights, with a ticket cost of $50,000, although the company has not disclosed how much revenue it has collected from those reservations.

World View provided little financial information as part of the SPAC announcement. Unlike some similar deals involving space or space-adjacent companies, there was no conference call to discuss the merger, and they did not release an investor presentation with financial details or projections.

Hartman said in October 2021, when the company announced its tourism plans, that the company was fully funded for the initial stage of development of the tourism system but did not disclose its anticipated cost. World View’s last announced financing before the SPAC deal was a $26.5 million Series C round in 2018 .

The SPAC deal comes days after supervisors in Pima County, Arizona, approved a new lease agreement with the company for its headquarters. The county built the $14 million facility as part of an economic incentive package for the company, but a state court ruled, in a suit brought by a third party, it violated a “gift clause” provision in the state constitution.

According to local media , World View stopped paying rent on the facility while awaiting a new lease and was $400,000 behind in lease payments, but agreed to pay it back in the new lease agreement. As part of the lease, the company agreed to have at least 90 full-time employees working there this year, with a long-term goal of 125. The original lease agreement required the company to ultimately employ 400 people there.

Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science... More by Jeff Foust

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Press releases and media mentions

PRESS RELEASE - World View today announced the appointment of Julien Denat as Vice President, Supply Chain. Denat is a supply chain and program management leader with 22 years of aerospace experience at both startups and Global 500 companies, including Airbus. Denat will lead and expand World View’s supply chain team, including procurement, demand and inventory management.

PRESS RELEASE - World View, a global leader in stratospheric exploration and flight, announces the closing of a strategic $25M investment from Breakthrough Victoria, an investment company established by the Victorian government to provide long-term capital to innovation businesses and projects that will improve people’s lives and benefit Victoria’s economy.

PRESS RELEASE - World View, a global leader in stratospheric exploration and flight, announces the successful opening and initial funding of a Series D round. The round was led by SNC, a renowned leader in innovative technology solutions and open architecture integrations within the aerospace and national security sectors.

CBS REPORTS - In the aftermath of the Titan submersible tragedy, extreme travel has come under fresh scrutiny. But one industry stands out for both its allure and the lack of regulation protecting participants' safety: space tourism. CBS Reports explores the next great leap for humankind and whether regulators and industry stakeholders are striking the right balance between encouraging innovation and ensuring safety.

NASA - NASA is calling on middle and high school students across the country to submit experiment ideas for a high-altitude balloon or rocket-powered lander test flight in the third TechRise Student Challenge.

NASA - On July 24, students from 30 middle and high schools selected for NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge watched their experiments launch aboard a high-altitude balloon, marking the culmination of months of hard work.

PRESS RELEASE - World View, a global leader in stratospheric exploration and flight, today announced Stephen Wideman as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and former World View Exploration and Tourism Advisory Board (ExTAB) member Lori Garver to its Board of Directors.

PRESS RELEASE - World View will participate in a panel discussion at SXSW 2023 in collaboration with several authorities in exploration and space travel that explores space tourism as a medium for purposeful travel to experience our planet more fully. The session, Exploring–and Experiencing–Earth via Space Tourism, will take place on Wednesday, March 15, at 4:00 p.m. CDT as part of the conference’s Travel & Leisure track.

PRESS RELEASE - World View today announced the appointment of Ian Thomas as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Thomas brings more than 30 years of experience scaling global businesses, including 15 years with The Boeing Company, where he served in a variety of senior leadership roles in the United States (U.S.) and Europe, and then led the company’s operations, successively, in the United Kingdom, India, Australia, and China.

CNBC - As unidentified objects flying over the United States continue to capture the nation’s attention, Morgan dives into the technology behind the stratospheric data-gathering devices with World View CEO Ryan Hartman. Known for their high-altitude balloons, Hartman and Morgan discuss the company’s capabilities, their potential use in the defense sector and the company’s plans to go public later this year.

WALL STREET JOURNAL - American military and civilian agencies have flown balloons over the U.S. for a growing range of national-security applications, scientific research, intelligence collection and commercial uses, according to industry experts, former officials and government documents. Less known is the extent to which the U.S. has floated balloons over foreign countries, though there are examples in history. In the 1950s during the Cold War, the U.S. flew balloons outfitted with cameras over Soviet airspace, an operation sometimes referred to as Project Moby Dick, before later switching to U-2 spy planes.

THE WASHINGTON POST - It’s a risky time to be a balloon. On Feb. 4, the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon after it veered into American airspace, triggering a diplomatic crisis. In the days since, U.S. officials have shot down a fleet of unidentified objects soaring overhead. At any given moment, thousands of balloons are likely peppering the sky, doing everything from mundane weather monitoring to covert intelligence gathering. Though the technology is centuries old, industrial balloons remain a reliable method for launching items high into the sky quickly at a low cost.

PRESS RELEASE - Infleqtion, the global quantum ecosystem leader, and World View, a leader in stratospheric exploration and flight, today announced a partnership that provides faster, more cost-effective quantum application testing utilizing Infleqtion's compact quantum technology and World View's patented stratospheric balloon systems.

C4ISRNET - World View, a supplier of balloons that operate at near-space altitudes, and U.S. defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corp. agreed to jointly field uncrewed platforms for stratospheric communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The partnership will allow the companies to pursue new missions by combining SNC’s defense and aerospace integration, payload and mission systems expertise with World View’s high-altitude Earth observation capability.

SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION - World View and Sierra Nevada Corporation announce a Strategic Agreement to field and operate uncrewed platforms for stratospheric communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The partnership allows both companies to pursue new missions by combining SNC’s defense and aerospace integration, payload and mission systems expertise with World View’s high-altitude Earth observation capability.

PRESS RELEASE - On the heels of the COP27 climate summit, Scepter, Inc., an emerging company that uses global Earth- and air-based data to measure climate gases and air pollution in real time, has today announced it is set to launch in January a stratospheric balloon enabled with methane-detection sensors in Texas’ Permian Basin, which will gather first-of-its-kind data on methane emissions. Tucson-based stratospheric balloon company World View is working closely with Scepter to bring the balloon capabilities to the mission.

SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION - In partnership with World View, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) successfully demonstrated performance of its rapidly deployable High-Altitude Balloon (HAB), completing launch, mission performance and recovery of the uncrewed platform for stratospheric communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The flight was a critical part of the company’s U.K. Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Project Aether Flight 1 Assessment Phase contract.

NBC LX NEWS - If you have dreams of a trip to space, but don't have close to $1 million to make this a reality, there is a new startup that might be perfect for you. Tickets will cost $50,000, which will get you a much more enjoyable and long-lasting experience than just an up-and-down trip on a rocket.

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Want to travel to the edge of space in a balloon? A Tucson company is taking reservations

TUCSON — Arizona has Sedona, the Grand Canyon, spring-training baseball and winter golf.

Might space exploration become the state's next big tourist draw?

A Tucson company says it has the means to put adventure-seekers into the stratosphere and bring them back safely, at relatively little cost and without a big toll on the environment or any unpleasant gravitational pressures on the body.

The first countdowns won't begin until at least 2024, but the firm already has lined up 1,200 nonrefundable deposits, offering what it calls a "transformative" experience at the edge of space.

World View Enterprises is using helium-inflated balloons to climb more than 100,000 feet, or nearly four times the height of Mount Everest. When tourist operations begin, the balloons will lift a pressurized cabin carrying eight passengers and two crew members at around 12 feet per second.

"It's a two-hour ascent at the rate of an elevator," said Phil Wocken, the company's director of marketing. Descents will take around 90 minutes, he added, after passengers spend perhaps two to four hours at the edge of space.

The privately held company already is carrying payloads for government and commercial customers, but space tourism eventually could generate most of its revenue. World View already has launched more than 100 research and test flights — some lasting weeks — from the company's headquarters complex south of Tucson International Airport.

However, tourists will depart from planned spaceports located near seven global wonders, starting first near the Grand Canyon (from nearby Page) and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The company later plans to offer flights from Africa's Serengeti wildlife preserve, Norway to see the Aurora Borealis, a location in the Amazon rainforest, the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.

The company is negotiating with local authorities in several of those locations, with spaceport construction still ahead.

The flights are priced at $50,000 per seat, with nonrefundable deposits of $500 each.

Ascending in a big 'baggie'

The balloons themselves, filled with helium, aren't pressurized. They rise when filled with the lighter-than-air, nonflammable gas and descend when it's vented. At around 60,000 to 70,000 feet high, the balloon detaches and the capsule descends under a parachute-like parafoil the size of a basketball court.

Travelers will land within 100 miles or so of their launch site, and they will get transported back there, with all touch-downs on land.

"The balloons' thickness isn't much greater than that of a sandwich baggie," Wocken said. "The balloon acts as an envelope to hold the helium."

The balloons — in a sense, somewhat like giant plastic bags — are made on 600-foot-long tables at World View's Tucson campus (though the company might manufacture some elsewhere, too). They come off polyethylene plastic rolls not much bigger than restaurant-sized cartons of Saran Wrap.

The company operates a round-the-clock mission control room during flights, monitoring altitudes, course settings, landings and more. Much of the instrumentation used is made by World View in Tucson.

The company, with some venture-capital funding, was "born of a lot of really interesting technology," said Ryan Hartman, World View's CEO.

The company has stressed the environmental friendliness of its space-tourism focus, and finding recycled uses for the balloons — each to be used for only a single flight —is a priority. The material could become greenhouse coverings, clothing, shoes, road pavers and other items, Wocken said.

But in terms of emissions, the flights are expected to be much less taxing than rocket-propelled departures that are widely criticized for pollutants. "The flights themselves have no carbon footprints," Hartman said.

By contrast, each billionaire joyride on a private rocket could propel hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide into the upper atmosphere, according to some estimates .

One impediment for World View could lie in securing enough helium, a relatively rare element on Earth, if not in the universe.

"Over 10 years, we could use more than 3% of the global supply," Hartman said.

High-altitude revenue generators

At a fare of $50,000 per passenger, World View's flights would cost much less than, say, the $450,000 price listed by Virgin Galactic for its upcoming rocket liftoffs, and with travelers not subjected to extensive preflight training or G-forces.

As a private company, World View hasn't disclosed its finances, but Hartman said he expects to attain profitability by around 2026 or 2027, with tourism eventually accounting for the lion's share of revenue.

For the past seven years, the company has captured high-resolution images of Earth from remotely guided stratospheric balloons, completing more than 100 such flights along with five heavier, full-mass test flights. World View said its technology captures and analyzes high-resolution images as well as video, infrared, radar and other data, allowing for new insights and improved decisions by businesses and governments.

Clients include the U.S. Air Force, research organizations and utility and other companies such as Sierra Nevada Corp., a private aerospace and national-security contractor based near Reno. World View recently announced a partnership with Space Environment Technologies, a Los Angeles-area weather instrumentation company, to measure space radiation and other aspects of the high-altitude atmosphere.

World View also can perform land-use assessments, animal-population counts, water quality monitoring, detection of downed power lines and harmful-leak detection, such as those involving methane gas from pipelines.

Given the lower flight costs and operational differences, Hartman said he doesn't think the company has any direct space-tourism competitors currently. The operating differences include the ability to book passengers having a broad range of health characteristics — not just honed astronauts in top physical shape.

Travelers will receive some flight-readiness training and an overview of what to expect, but nothing like NASA training for astronauts. Also, visitors may wear any comfortable clothing, since the cabins are pressurized. Spacesuits aren't part of the experience.

Why a home in Tucson?

Tucson doesn't have anywhere near as much economic diversity or clout as metro Phoenix, but it is home to the University of Arizona and has attracted some large aerospace and defense employers including Raytheon . World View was spun off roughly a decade ago from another private Tucson company, Paragon Space Development Corp., which manufactures life support systems and thermal controls. Paragon makes World View's balloon capsules.

Hartman said southern Arizona's aerospace foundation, ready workforce and attractiveness in luring potential employees from other states were factors for basing the company there, along with the ability to launch flights year-round. World View currently employs about 130 people and has various openings for engineers and technicians.

The company also received assistance from Pima County, which spent $15 million to develop the 135,000-square-foot complex, with World View making lease payments over 20 years.

The Goldwater Institute, based in Phoenix, brought legal action charging that Pima County unlawfully signed a development-incentive agreement with the company and hired architect and construction companies without a competitive bidding process. World View, which was considering other locations, said it needed a quick start to meet customer contracts.

At any rate, a Superior Court judge in Pima County  agreed with the county that state law provides exceptions , as in this case, when skirting normal competitive practices is impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest.

Attracting tourists from everywhere

When tourist operations begin, if things go as planned, World View's flights will commence before dawn to allow travelers to experience the darkness of space, view the sunrise and marvel at the curvature of the planet. Travelers also will learn a bit about the areas surrounding the launch site they select.

World View says it has secured reservations from residents of 32 nations, including the U.S., Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. With only one announced North American tourist launch site in the northern part of the state, Arizona has the potential to attract even more affluent visitors from around the globe.

More information about the company, flights and reservations is at  worldview.space . 

Reach the reporter at [email protected] .

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The Future of Space Tourism Is Now. Well, Not Quite.

From zero-pressure balloon trips to astronaut boot camps, reservations for getting off the planet — or pretending to — are skyrocketing. The prices, however, are still out of this world.

By Debra Kamin

Ilida Alvarez has dreamed of traveling to space since she was a child. But Ms. Alvarez, a legal-mediation firm owner, is afraid of flying, and she isn’t a billionaire — two facts that she was sure, until just a few weeks ago, would keep her fantasy as out of reach as the stars. She was wrong.

Ms. Alvarez, 46, and her husband, Rafael Landestoy, recently booked a flight on a 10-person pressurized capsule that — attached to a massive helium-filled balloon — will gently float to 100,000 feet while passengers sip champagne and recline in ergonomic chairs. The reservation required a $500 deposit; the flight itself will cost $50,000 and last six to 12 hours.

“I feel like it was tailor-made for the chickens like me who don’t want to get on a rocket,” said Ms. Alvarez, whose flight, organized by a company called World View , is scheduled to depart from the Grand Canyon in 2024.

Less than a year after Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson kicked off a commercial space race by blasting into the upper atmosphere within weeks of each other last summer, the global space tourism market is skyrocketing, with dozens of companies now offering reservations for everything from zero-pressure balloon trips to astronaut boot camps and simulated zero-gravity flights. But don’t don your spacesuit just yet. While the financial services company UBS estimates the space travel market will be worth $3 billion by 2030, the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to approve most out-of-this-world trips, and construction has not started on the first space hotel. And while access and options — not to mention launchpads — are burgeoning, space tourism remains astronomically expensive for most.

First, what counts as space travel?

Sixty miles (about 100 kilometers) above our heads lies the Kármán line, the widely accepted aeronautical boundary of the earth’s atmosphere. It’s the boundary used by the Féderátion Aéronautique Internationale, which certifies and controls global astronautical records. But many organizations in the United States, including the F.A.A. and NASA, define everything above 50 miles to be space.

Much of the attention has been focused on a trio of billionaire-led rocket companies: Mr. Bezos’ Blue Origin , whose passengers have included William Shatner; Mr. Branson’s Virgin Galactic , where tickets for a suborbital spaceflight start at $450,000; and Elon Musk’s SpaceX , which in September launched an all-civilian spaceflight, with no trained astronauts on board. Mr. Branson’s inaugural Virgin Galactic flight in 2021 reached about 53 miles, while Blue Origin flies above the 62-mile mark. Both are eclipsed by SpaceX, whose rockets charge far deeper in to the cosmos, reaching more than 120 miles above Earth.

Balloons, like those operated by World View, don’t go nearly as high. But even at their maximum altitude of 18 or 19 miles, operators say they float high enough to show travelers the curvature of the planet, and give them a chance to experience the overview effect — an intense perspective shift that many astronauts say kicks in when you view Earth from above.

Now, how to get there …

Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, which are both licensed for passenger space travel by the F.A.A., are open for ticket sales. (Blue Origin remains mum on pricing.) Both companies currently have hundreds or even thousands of earthlings on their wait lists for a whirl to the edge of space. SpaceX charges tens of millions of dollars for its further-reaching flights and is building a new facility in Texas that is currently under F.A.A. review.

Craig Curran is a major space enthusiast — he’s held a reserved seat on a Virgin Galactic flight since 2011 — and the owner of Deprez Travel in Rochester, N.Y. The travel agency has a special space travel arm, Galactic Experiences by Deprez , through which Mr. Curran sells everything from rocket launch tickets to astronaut training.

Sales in the space tourism space, Mr. Curran acknowledges, “are reasonably difficult to make,” and mostly come from peer-to-peer networking. “You can imagine that people who spend $450,000 to go to space probably operate in circles that are not the same as yours and mine,” he said.

Some of Mr. Curran’s most popular offerings include flights where you can experience the same stomach-dropping feeling of zero gravity that astronauts feel in space, which he arranges for clients via chartered, specialized Boeing 727s that are flown in parabolic arcs to mimic being in space. Operators including Zero G also offer the service; the cost is around $8,200.

You can almost count the number of completed space tourist launches on one hand — Blue Origin has had four; SpaceX, two. Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, on Thursday announced the launch of its commercial passenger service, previously scheduled for late 2022, was delayed until early 2023. Many of those on waiting lists are biding their time before blastoff by signing up for training. Axiom Space, which contracts with SpaceX, currently offers NASA-partnered training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. Virgin Galactic, which already offers a “customized Future Astronaut Readiness program” at its Spaceport America facility in New Mexico, is also partnering with NASA to build a training program for private astronauts.

Would-be space tourists should not expect the rigor that NASA astronauts face. Training for Virgin Galactic’s three-hour trips is included in the cost of a ticket and lasts a handful of days; it includes pilot briefings and being “fitted for your bespoke Under Armour spacesuit and boots,” according to its website.

Not ready for a rocket? Balloon rides offer a less hair-raising celestial experience.

“We go to space at 12 miles an hour, which means that it’s very smooth and very gentle. You’re not rocketing away from earth,” said Jane Poynter, a co-founder and co-chief executive of Space Perspective , which is readying its own touristic balloon spaceship, Spaceship Neptune. If all goes according to plan, voyages are scheduled to begin departing from Florida in 2024, at a cost of $125,000 per person. That’s a fraction of the price tag for Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, but still more than double the average annual salary of an American worker.

Neither Space Perspective nor World View has the required approval yet from the F.A.A. to operate flights.

Unique implications

Whether a capsule or a rocket is your transport, the travel insurance company battleface launched a civilian space insurance plan in late 2021, a direct response, said chief executive Sasha Gainullin, to an increase in space tourism interest and infrastructure. Benefits include accidental death and permanent disablement in space and are valid for spaceflights on operators like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, as well as on stratospheric balloon rides. They’ve had many inquiries, Mr. Gainullin said, but no purchases just yet.

“Right now it’s such high-net-worth individuals who are traveling to space, so they probably don’t need insurance,” he said. “But for quote-unquote regular travelers, I think we’ll see some takeups soon.”

And as the industry grows, so perhaps will space travel’s impact on the environment. Not only do rocket launches have immense carbon footprints, even some stratospheric balloon flights have potentially significant implications: World View’s balloons are powered by thousands of cubic meters of helium, which is a limited resource . But Ted Parson, a professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that space travel’s environmental impact is still dwarfed by civil aviation. And because space travel is ultra-niche, he believes it’s likely to stay that way.

“Despite extensive projections, space tourism is likely to remain a tiny fraction of commercial space exploration,” he said. “It reminds me of tourism on Mt. Everest. It’s the indulgence of very rich people seeking a transcendent, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the local environmental burden is intense.”

Stay a while?

In the future, space enthusiasts insist, travelers won’t be traveling to space just for the ride. They’ll want to stay a while. Orbital Assembly Corporation, a manufacturing company whose goal is to colonize space, is currently building the world’s first space hotels — two ring-shaped properties that will orbit Earth, called Pioneer Station and Voyager Station. The company, quite optimistically, projects an opening date of 2025 for Pioneer Station, with a capacity of 28 guests. The design for the larger Voyager Station , which they say will open in 2027, promises villas and suites, as well as a gym, restaurant and bar. Both provide the ultimate luxury: simulated gravity. Axiom Space , a space infrastructure company, is currently building the world’s first private space station; plans include Philippe Starck-designed accommodations for travelers to spend the night.

Joshua Bush, chief executive of travel agency Avenue Two Travel , has sold a handful of seats on upcoming Virgin Galactic flights to customers. The market for space travel (and the sky-high prices that come with it), he believes, will evolve much like civilian air travel did.

“In the beginning of the 20th century, only very affluent people could afford to fly,” he said. “Just as we have Spirit and Southwest Airlines today, there will be some sort of equivalent of that in space travel, too. Hopefully within my lifetime.”

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The company SpaceX achieved a key set of ambitious goals  on the fourth test flight of a vehicle that is central to Elon Musk’s vision of sending people to Mars.

Euclid, a European Space Agency telescope launched into space last summer, finally showed off what it’s capable of with a batch of breathtaking images  and early science results.

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With the help of Google Cloud, scientists who hunt killer asteroids churned through hundreds of thousands of images of the night sky to reveal 27,500 overlooked space rocks in the solar system .

Is Pluto a planet? And what is a planet, anyway? Test your knowledge here .

Virgin Galactic to Launch Space Tourism Flight as Waiting Lists Grow

Jesse Chase-Lubitz , Skift

June 7th, 2024 at 1:51 PM EDT

Virgin Galactic joins Blue Origin and Space Perspective in aspiring to make the final frontier open to all who can afford it. That's good news for travel agencies like RocketBreaks.

Jesse Chase-Lubitz

Virgin Galactic plans to send a handful of paying passengers to the edge of space on June 8 as the space industry continues to grow and diversify.

“So far, there are about 3,000 to 4,000 people on the waiting lists for these trips,” said David Doughty, co-founder of the space travel agency RocketBreaks . His agency has secured contracts with seven tourists looking to launch into orbit and has set a date for one. 

Virgin Galactic’s flight will take off from New Mexico on Saturday and carry three private passengers from California, New York, and Italy. Tuva Cihangir Atasever , a researcher-astronaut from infrastructure company Axiom Space, and two commanders will accompany them.

Virgin Galactic has not released the identities of the private passengers. 

In an email to Skift, the company said, “We don’t consider our mission to take people to space, “tourism.” Those who fly with us become astronauts in what is a very thoughtful, purposeful journey that begins when they purchase a ticket.”

The passengers, whose identities were not disclosed, will enjoy a roughly 90-minute journey to the edge of space that includes a few minutes of zero gravity.

The company’s website states that spaceflight tickets cost $450,000, though it doesn’t disclose what passengers truly paid. On a recent earnings call, executives said the average price per seat on this flight is over $800,000 hope to charge a ticket price of $600,000 . Blue Origin doesn’t publicize its prices, but they have been said to range between $200,000 and over $1 million .

The space tourism industry

Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are known for their shorter suborbital flights, while SpaceX focuses on bringing tourists into orbit and to the International Space Station.

In August 2023, Virgin Galactic brought a health and wellness coach and her 18-year-old daughter who had won a fundraising competition by Space for Humanity, a non-profit that seeks to democratize space travel to space.

BlueOrigin , which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, has sent more than two dozen passengers into space. SpaceX , founded by Elon Musk, brought an all-tourist crew back from space in 2021.

The industry is growing and diversifying. One company, called Space Perspective , is offering an even more luxurious experience, with VIP seating, a toilet, Michelin-star catering, and WiFi. Rather than a 90-minute round trip, this experience would last closer to six hours.

A space travel agency

“This is our number one product,” said Doughty. “People don’t necessarily want this fast 15-minute adrenaline field journey. They want a full experience. There are people that are planning to get married and have the first weddings in space.”

The waiting list for Space Perspective is already about 800 names long, according to Doughty. The first flight is scheduled to launch in 2027.

Virgin Galactic plans to retire its current spacecraft after this flight and start developing a new generation of Delta spaceships, which the company hopes will have the capacity to launch up to eight times per month and carry more passengers. Private astronaut flights are expected to resume in 2026. But the company will have to find a way to stay financially viable in the meantime .

The future of space tourism

RocketBreaks sees the industry widening to different types of experiences. “You can really personalize the experience and we help people find the journey they want,” said Doughty. “We could plan anything from a child meeting an astronaut for his birthday, a bucket list trip in your 70s and you don’t like G-Force, something for a premier league footballer who wants to feel the adrenaline.”

The technology is developing rapidly and confidence is slowly building, said Barry Shanks, director at RocketBreaks. “There’s going to be a great deal of marketing going on, so then I think we will see a rise,” he said. 

“In the long term, like 10 years time, we’re looking at doing a trip around the moon that will be no different than flying from London to Australia,” said Shanks of RocketBreaks.

CORRECTION : This article originally said Virgin Galactic’s latest flight on June 8 would be its second with paying passengers. It will be its seventh. We’ve also added this statement: “On its latest earnings call, the company said the average price per seat on this flight was over $800,000.”

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Tags: space , space tourism , spacex , Travel Experiences , Travel Trends , virgin galactic

Photo credit: Virgin Galactic's first mission carrying passengers in August, 2023. Virgin Galactic

Passing Thru Travel

Travel Beyond Earth: Exploring the Future of Space Tourism

Posted: March 22, 2024 | Last updated: March 22, 2024

Space tourism, once a mere figment of science fiction, rapidly evolves into a tangible reality, offering the most intrepid travelers an unprecedented opportunity to venture beyond Earth’s confines. This burgeoning industry promises to redefine the boundaries of exploration, providing experiences ranging from suborbital flights to extended stays in space stations. As private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic spearhead this new era, the dream of gazing upon Earth from the vastness of space is closer than ever. This guide explores the forefront of space tourism, presenting ideas that mark the future of extraterrestrial travel.

1. Suborbital Spaceflights

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Dima Zel

Suborbital spaceflights represent the threshold of human space exploration, offering a brief yet profound journey beyond the confines of Earth’s atmosphere. This experience allows you to witness the curvature of the Earth against the backdrop of the infinite cosmos, a sight that has transformed the perspective of many astronauts.

During the flight, you’ll experience a few minutes of weightlessness, floating freely within the cabin, an exhilarating and serene sensation. Companies leading this venture, such as Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, utilize cutting-edge spacecraft designed for safety, comfort, and the optimal viewing experience. The flights are meticulously planned, with each phase — from the rocket’s ascent to the silent glide back to Earth — maximizing the passenger’s experience of space.

Insider’s Tip: Opt for a comprehensive training program offered by these companies to prepare physically and mentally for the rigors and euphoria of space travel.

2. Orbital Spaceflights

Orbital spaceflights are the next frontier for private space tourism, offering an extended stay in low Earth orbit. This experience goes beyond the brief moments of weightlessness, allowing you to live and move in space, witnessing multiple sunrises and sunsets in a single day from the vantage point of a spacecraft. Currently, this level of space travel is offered by companies like SpaceX, which plans to use its Crew Dragon spacecraft to transport private citizens to orbit.

While aboard, you’ll experience life as modern astronauts, from sleeping in zero gravity to observing the Earth from a unique orbital perspective. The journey is about experiencing the day-to-day life of an astronaut, making it a profoundly transformative experience.

Insider’s Tip: Engage in a rigorous pre-flight conditioning regimen to ensure you can fully enjoy and participate in the activities and demands of living in space.

3. Space Hotels

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Alones

The concept of space hotels is set to revolutionize space tourism, offering a luxurious stay in orbit. These hotels, planned by companies like Axiom Space, aim to attach habitable modules to the International Space Station or even construct free-flying space stations designed for commercial use.

Guests can expect accommodations that combine the thrill of space with the comforts of Earth, including rooms with views of the planet below, space-grown food, and recreational activities adapted for microgravity. The development of space hotels highlights the growing accessibility of space travel, promising an extraordinary vacation destination that was once the realm of astronauts.

Insider’s Tip: Keep an eye on the development progress of these stations and plan for a longer training period to acclimate to extended periods in microgravity.

4. Lunar Flybys

Lunar flybys mark an ambitious step in space tourism, offering private citizens the chance to journey around the Moon. This mission, reminiscent of the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s, promises an unparalleled adventure, bringing you up close to the lunar surface before witnessing the Earth rising over the Moon’s horizon.

SpaceX’s Starship is one of the spacecraft intended to make such missions possible, providing a comfortable and safe journey for those aboard. The experience of seeing the Moon up close and the Earth in full view offers an extraordinary sense of our place in the universe and the interconnectedness of all life on our planet.

Insider’s Tip: Such a mission requires physical preparation and a deep commitment, as it represents one of the longer-duration space tourism experiences currently planned.

5. Zero-Gravity Flights

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Frame Stock Footage

Embarking on a zero-gravity flight offers an unparalleled introduction to the sensations of space without leaving Earth’s atmosphere. This experience simulates the weightlessness of outer space through parabolic flight patterns, creating moments where gravity’s pull is momentarily negated.

Inside a specially modified aircraft, you’ll float, flip, and soar as if in space, providing a unique taste of what astronauts experience aboard the International Space Station. The flights are meticulously planned and executed, involving a series of steep climbs and descents, with each parabola offering around 20 to 30 seconds of weightlessness.

For those dreaming of space travel, this adventure is an accessible and exhilarating preview, requiring minimal training compared to orbital missions. It’s a favorite among space enthusiasts, researchers, and educators for its educational value and the sheer joy of experiencing microgravity.

Insider’s Tip: Focus on mastering movements in microgravity during the flight to maximize the experience. Quick acclimation allows for more freedom and enjoyment during the brief periods of weightlessness.

6. Spacewalk Simulations

Image Credit: Shutterstock / vicspacewalker

Spacewalk simulations offer an immersive experience that closely mimics the extravehicular activities (EVAs) performed by astronauts in the vacuum of space. Utilizing advanced virtual reality (VR) technology and neutral buoyancy labs, these simulations give participants a realistic sense of the challenges and exhilaration of conducting a spacewalk.

In neutral buoyancy labs, participants are submerged in large pools equipped with full-scale models of spacecraft and space station modules, allowing them to practice tasks under conditions that simulate microgravity. VR simulations, on the other hand, use cutting-edge graphics and motion-sensing technology to create detailed, interactive environments where participants can explore and work on virtual spacecraft or satellites.

These experiences are designed not only for entertainment but also as educational tools, offering insights into the physics of space, the complexity of astronaut tasks, and the teamwork required to complete a mission outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

Insider’s Tip: Take the time to learn about the intricacies of real space missions to enhance the realism and immersion of the simulation experience.

7. Astronaut Training Experiences

Astronaut training experiences are comprehensive programs designed to simulate the physical and mental preparation required for space travel. These programs cover a wide range of activities, from high-G force centrifuge training to simulate rocket launches to underwater neutral buoyancy sessions that mimic the weightlessness of space.

Participants also engage in classroom sessions where they learn about spacecraft operations, navigation, and the science behind human spaceflight. Additionally, survival training exercises prepare participants for emergency scenarios, including how to safely return to Earth in unforeseen circumstances.

These experiences are offered by various space agencies and private companies, aiming to provide an authentic glimpse into the life of an astronaut and the rigorous training they undergo.

Insider’s Tip: Embrace every aspect of the training for a holistic understanding of the physical and psychological demands of space travel.

8. Visits to Space Launch Facilities

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Northfoto

Visits to space launch facilities offer a unique opportunity to witness the intersection of human ingenuity and cosmos exploration. Facilities like NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and SpaceX’s launch site at Boca Chica, Texas, provide guided tours where visitors can see launch pads, vehicle assembly buildings, and control rooms.

These tours often include exhibits on the history of space exploration, showcasing spacecraft, satellites, and memorabilia from historic missions. For those interested in the future of space travel, some facilities also offer the chance to see the latest aerospace technology and spacecraft being prepared for upcoming missions.

Witnessing a live rocket launch is a highlight of visiting these facilities, offering a tangible sense of the power and potential of space exploration.

Insider’s Tip: Plan your visit to coincide with a live rocket launch for an unforgettable experience, but be prepared for schedule changes due to weather or technical delays.

9. Space Camps for Adults

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Mike_shots

Space camps designed for adults blend the thrill of space exploration with the rigor of astronaut training in an immersive, educational environment. These camps offer a comprehensive overview of space science, including hands-on activities like building and launching model rockets, simulating space missions, and navigating obstacle courses designed to mimic the physical challenges of space travel.

Beyond the physical activities, workshops, and lectures from experts in the field provide insights into the complexities of spaceflight, the history of space exploration, and the future of humanity in space. This experience is about fulfilling childhood dreams and understanding the teamwork, problem-solving, and technical knowledge required for space missions.

Whether you’re a space enthusiast looking to deepen your understanding or simply seeking an adventure out of this world, adult space camps offer an unforgettable journey into the final frontier.

Insider’s Tip: Engage fully in the camp activities and network with fellow space enthusiasts to enrich your experience and foster connections within the space tourism community.

10. Virtual Reality Space Exploration

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Gorodenkoff

Virtual reality (VR) space exploration represents the cutting edge of technology, allowing you to traverse the cosmos from the comfort of your own home. High-definition visuals and immersive audio transport you to other worlds, from the International Space Station to the rugged terrain of Mars. These experiences are crafted with attention to scientific accuracy, offering not just entertainment but an educational journey through space and time.

You can embark on guided tours of extraterrestrial landscapes, participate in simulated space missions, and learn about the cosmos in an engaging, interactive format. VR technology continues to evolve, promising ever more realistic and expansive explorations of the universe. For those fascinated by space but not ready to leave Earth, virtual reality offers a compelling window into what lies beyond our planet.

Insider’s Tip: Invest in a high-quality VR headset and explore the various space exploration programs available to maximize the realism and depth of your virtual space experience.

The Bottom Line

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Skreidzeleu

As space tourism evolves, these journeys become increasingly accessible to those who dream of the stars. Whether through a brief parabolic flight or an ambitious journey around the Moon, the opportunities for adventure beyond Earth’s atmosphere are expanding. Each of these experiences requires financial investment, a commitment to preparation, and a willingness to embrace the unknown.

As you contemplate your place in the cosmos, remember that the essence of space tourism lies in pushing the boundaries of human experience, offering a new perspective on our planet and our place within the universe. The future of travel beyond Earth promises new destinations and a new understanding of what it means to explore.

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The post Travel Beyond Earth: Exploring the Future of Space Tourism republished on Passing Thru with permission from The Green Voyage .

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Andrei Armiagov.

For transparency, this content was partly developed with AI assistance and carefully curated by an experienced editor to be informative and ensure accuracy.

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Will Sullivan

Daily Correspondent

More and more humans are traveling to space. Several missions in 2021 took private citizens on tourist flights. Last month, six people flew to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere and back. NASA plans to put astronauts back on the moon later this decade, and SpaceX recently tested a rocket it hopes will one day carry humans to Mars.

With even more ambitious crewed flights on the horizon, scientists want to better understand the effects that space’s stressors—such as exposure to radiation and a lack of gravity—have on the human body. Now, a newly released set of 44 papers and troves of data, called the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA), aims to do just that.

SOMA is the largest collection of data on aerospace medicine and space biology ever compiled. It dramatically expands the amount of information available on how the human body changes during spaceflight. And the first studies to come out of this project improve scientists’ understanding of how space travel affects human health.

“This will allow us to be better prepared when we’re sending humans into space for whatever reason,” Allen Liu , mechanical engineer at the University of Michigan who is not involved in the project, tells Adithi Ramakrishnan of the Associated Press (AP).

Much of the new atlas is based on data collected from the four members of the Inspiration4 mission , a space tourism flight that sent four civilians on a three-day trip to low-Earth orbit in September 2021. The findings suggest people on short-term flights experience some of the same health impacts that astronauts face on long-term trips to space.

“We don’t yet fully understand all of the risks” of long-duration space travel, Amy McGuire , a biomedical ethicist at Baylor College of Medicine who did not contribute to the work, says to Science ’s Ramin Skibba. “This is also why it is so important that early space tourists participate in research.”

Space travel poses a number of risks to health. Without Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field to protect them, astronauts are exposed to space radiation , which can increase their risk for cancer and degenerative diseases. Fluid shifts into astronauts’ heads when they are experiencing weightlessness, which can contribute to vision problems , headaches and changes in the structure of the brain . The microgravity environment can also lead to a loss of bone density and atrophied muscles , prompting long-haul astronauts to adopt specific exercise regimens .

But on top of those known risks, the new research highlights other potential issues. One study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications found that mice exposed to a dose of radiation meant to simulate a round trip to Mars experienced kidney damage and dysfunction. Human travelers might need to be on dialysis on the way back from the Red Planet if they were not protected from this radiation, writes the Guardian ’s Ian Sample.

“It’s likely to be a serious issue,” Stephen Walsh , a co-author of the study and clinician scientist at University College London, tells the publication. “It’s very hard to see how that’s going to be okay.”

The health information from the Inspiration4 astronauts sheds light on how space travel can affect private citizens who have not extensively trained for it. The findings also highlight changes to cells and DNA that can occur during short trips to space.

Biomarkers that changed during the Inspiration4 mission returned to normal a few months after the trip, suggesting that space travel doesn’t pose a greater risk to civilians than it does for trained astronauts, Christopher Mason , a geneticist at Cornell University who helped put together the atlas, says to New Scientist ’s Clare Wilson.

The Inspiration4 research also suggests women may recover faster from space travel than men. Data from the mission’s two male and two female participants, along with data from 64 NASA astronauts, indicated that gene activity related to the immune system was more disrupted in male astronauts, per the Guardian . And men’s immune systems took longer to return to normal once back on Earth.

Taken together, the new papers could help researchers learn how to ameliorate the harms space travel can cause, Afshin Beheshti , a co-author of the work and a researcher with the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, says to the AP.

And the scientists say nothing in the data suggests humans should not go to space.

“There’s no showstopper,” Mason tells the Washington Post ’s Joel Achenbach. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to safely get to Mars and back.”

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Will Sullivan | | READ MORE

Will Sullivan is a science writer based in Washington, D.C. His work has appeared in Inside Science and NOVA Next .

New research explores how a short trip to space affects the human body

Nasa and others have long studied the toll of space travel on astronauts, including yearlong residents of the international space station, but there's been less attention on space tourists, by adithi ramakrishnan | associated press • published june 11, 2024 • updated on june 11, 2024 at 4:56 pm.

Space tourists experience some of the same body changes as astronauts who spend months in orbit, according to new studies published Tuesday.

Those shifts mostly returned to normal once the amateurs returned to Earth, researchers reported.

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“This will allow us to be better prepared when we’re sending humans into space for whatever reason,” said Allen Liu, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Michigan who was not involved with the research.

NASA and others have long studied the toll of space travel on astronauts, including yearlong residents of the International Space Station, but there's been less attention on space tourists. The first tourist visit to the space station was in 2001, and opportunities for private space travel have expanded in recent years.

A three-day chartered flight in 2021 gave researchers the chance to examine how quickly the body reacts and adapts to spaceflight, said Susan Bailey, a radiation expert at Colorado State University who took part in the research.

While in space, the four passengers on the SpaceX flight, dubbed Inspiration4, collected samples of blood, saliva, skin and more. Researchers analyzed the samples and found wide-ranging shifts in cells and changes to the immune system. Most of these shifts stabilized in the months after the four returned home, and the researchers found that the short-term spaceflight didn’t pose significant health risks.

“This is the first time we've had a cell-by-cell examination of a crew when they go to space,” said researcher and co-author Chris Mason with Weill Cornell Medicine.

The papers, which were published Tuesday in Nature journals and are now part of a database, include the impact of spaceflight on the skin, kidneys and immune system. The results could help researchers find ways to counteract the negative effects of space travel, said Afshin Beheshti, a researcher with the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science who took part in the work.

AP videojournalist Mary Conlon contributed from New York.

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