Are You Ready for Space Tourism?
Suppliers of space tourism are increasing in number. The most recent provider is Space Perspective, a startup based in Florida. Space Perspective plans to ferry space tourists to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. And they plan to provide a luxurious experience to their passengers while in space.
Recently, Space Perspective unveiled the capsule’s interiors, including the onboard amenities available to passengers. And they announced that interested passengers could now book an exciting balloon ride.
Seat reservations
The prospect of reaching the stratosphere in style definitely sounds exhilarating. Spaceship Neptune, the capsule of Space Perspective, is a balloon-borne pressurized capsule. It can ferry eight passengers and a pilot to an altitude of 30,000 meters (100,000 feet). And interested parties can start booking a seat now if they are willing to pay $125,000.
The flight
The passengers aboard Spaceship Neptune will spend nearly six hours aboard the capsule during the flight. The capsule will fly about 99 percent of the atmosphere. They will see the Earth against the space’s blackness.
Passengers can expect the flight to be luxurious and low impact. As a giant balloon bears the capsule, passengers will experience a gentle ascent. There will be no G-forces that astronauts encounter during a rocket launch. The capsule features panoramic windows, reclining seats, and a refreshments bar. It also has a bathroom.
Competition
Space tourism is a growing business. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are just two of the competitors of Space Perspective. They already have suborbital spacecraft that take passengers much higher than Spaceship Neptune offers. However, the space flights of Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are shorter.
The prices vary as well. For example, a seat on the six-passenger two-pilot VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane, costs $250,000.
The first crewed flight of Blue Origin was on July 20, 2021. It held an auction offering a seat on its first flight with a crew. The seat for the momentous space flight cost the anonymous bidder $28 million. It is a premium price definitely, because the passenger will be part of history. It will also be a chance to be in the company of Jeff Bezos, who will be on the flight. Blue Origin started taking passengers into space last March 31, 2022.
Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic is continuing test flights to fix minor issues and delaying its commercial operations. The new target is Q4 2022. It seems likely that the commercial operations will start this year. The company reopened its ticket sales recently. A seat costs $450,000.
Length of Spaceship Neptune’s flight
Spaceship Neptune uses a hydrogen gas balloon to take the capsule to the stratosphere. Some people believe that it cannot be called a space flight because it does not reach the Kármán line. This line is recognized boundary between the atmosphere of the Earth and outer space.
The flights offered by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin last for eight minutes. But Spaceship Neptune’s flight will last for a total of six hours. This includes the two hours spent on ascent and descent. Thus, aside from enjoying the view while the capsule goes up and down, the passengers will spend four hours in space.
What passengers can expect
The experience will be different. In the space flights offered by Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin, the passengers will need to stay strapped down inside the spaceship. Aboard Spaceship Neptune will be mood lighting and a suitable soundtrack for the journey. The pressurized cabin has reclining seats that can provide a 360-degree view. In addition, there is a telescope if the passengers want to look at a planet or star closely.
An onboard Wi-Fi will allow passengers to live stream their experience. In addition, the bathroom has windows to ensure that the passenger will not miss anything.
For the descent, the pilot will release the hydrogen from the balloon slowly. A parachute system can kick in if the descent is faster than expected. According to Space Perspective, the capsule will be used again for the next flight, while the balloon will be filled with hydrogen from renewable sources.
The company plans to launch 25 space flights starting in 2024. The flights scheduled for the first year of operation are all booked despite the price.