{"id":45431,"date":"2024-02-22T20:51:19","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T12:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/test-flights-on-tap-for-space-perspectives-luxury-high-altitude-balloon\/"},"modified":"2024-02-22T20:51:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T12:51:19","slug":"test-flights-on-tap-for-space-perspectives-luxury-high-altitude-balloon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/test-flights-on-tap-for-space-perspectives-luxury-high-altitude-balloon\/","title":{"rendered":"Test flights on tap for Space Perspective\u2019s luxury high-altitude balloon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Space Perspective could begin test flights of its privately owned capsule suspended under a high-altitude balloon within the next couple of months, the company\u2019s co-founder told Ars this week.<\/p>\n

Florida-based Space Perspective released photos of its first completed test capsule Tuesday. The company will use this pressurized capsule, called Excelsior<\/em>, for a series of test flights this year over the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Cape Canaveral. Taber MacCallum, Space Perspective\u2019s co-founder and chief technology officer, said employees have also finished fabricating the giant balloon that will lift the test capsule into the upper atmosphere for the first test flight.<\/p>\n

The final piece of the puzzle is a ship named Marine Spaceport Voyager <\/em>that Space Perspective will use to launch the balloon and capsule. This vessel is due to depart an outfitting facility in Louisiana in the next few weeks for a trip to Port Canaveral, Florida, where Space Perspective will unload the capsule and balloon. Then, perhaps in four to six weeks, ground teams will be ready for the system\u2019s first test flight, according to MacCallum.<\/p>\n

But this is a test program, and there could be delays, MacCallum said. In the meantime, Space Perspective will start building a second capsule for human test flights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll do a series of unmanned tests with this capsule,\u201d he said. \u201cIn theory, we could fly people in this capsule. It\u2019s designed that way, and it has all of the systems set up for human flight. But our planning assumes that trailing on what we learn from this capsule, we build another capsule that will be our first human flight capsule. And this will remain an unmanned test capsule.\u201d<\/p>\n

,<\/p>\n

Soaring to the edge of \u201cspace\u201d<\/h2>\n

These tests are a prelude to Space Perspective\u2019s plans for regular commercial flights carrying paying customers to 100,000 feet (about 30 kilometers), roughly three times higher than the cruising altitude of a typical commercial airliner. From 100,000 feet, Space Perspective\u2019s clients will see panoramic views of the ground and ocean far below, and the sky will be black, with the capsule flying above 99 percent of Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2019, Space Perspective says on its website it is \u201cdriven by a desire to share the transformative power of space travel with as many people as possible.\u201d In reality, the company will give customers an experience similar to spaceflight, with a few significant differences.<\/p>\n

Essentially, passengers on Space Perspective\u2019s high-altitude balloon will get a view the company says is similar to what a passenger might see on a suborbital spacecraft from Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic. But Space Perspective\u2019s vehicle won\u2019t subject customers to any high G-forces or the risks of rocket flight. The balloon passengers also won\u2019t float in microgravity. And it will max out at 30 kilometers, well short of the 80-kilometer boundary of space recognized by the US government or the 100-kilometer K\u00e1rm\u00e1n line.<\/p>\n

Still, the view from 30 kilometers must be tremendous. \u201cYou\u2019ll see essentially all of Florida,\u201d MacCallum said. \u201cWe\u2019re also looking at flying sort of across the southern tip of Florida, so you\u2019d see Cuba, the Bahamas, essentially all of Florida. So amazing views.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Artist\u2019s illustration of a Space Perspective capsule flying 100,000 feet over the ground, with the blackness of space above. <\/p>\n

Credit:
\n Space Perspective<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Space Perspective\u2019s flights will last six hours from takeoff until the capsule\u2019s splashdown at sea. A ride to space on Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard rocket lasts about 11 minutes, with only a few minutes of actual spaceflight. Space Perspective is aiming to give customers a luxury experience. Its capsules will be equipped with Wi-Fi and a stocked bar. Passengers could enjoy a cup of coffee or a champagne toast, all while video chatting with loved ones back on the ground.<\/p>\n

,<\/p>\n

The price for one seat on a six-hour flight? $125,000.<\/p>\n

This is less expensive than a flight on Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic. But those companies can boast they carry their passengers to space. Space Perspective does just what its name suggests\u2014and doesn\u2019t offer the experience of flying in space. In its press release announcing the completion of the test capsule, Space Perspective referred to the vehicle as a spacecraft.<\/p>\n

The company said the test vehicle is \u201cthe largest spaceflight capsule in existence\u201d and is \u201cthe first commercial spacecraft designed, developed, and manufactured without the backing of a billionaire or significant government funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is true Space Perspective reached this milestone without billionaire or government backing. The company has raised $77 million, primarily from venture capital firms and private investors, including author and speaker Tony Robbins.<\/p>\n

MacCallum said the Federal Aviation Administration would regulate human flights on Space Perspective\u2019s balloon just as the FAA would oversee commercial human spaceflights by SpaceX, Blue Origin, or Virgin Galactic. He said the company is also working with the US Coast Guard for approvals ahead of the balloon test flights. For the test flights without humans aboard, the FAA will treat Space Perspective\u2019s vehicle like any other balloon, according to MacCallum.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, Space Perspective\u2019s co-founders, were crew members on the Biosphere 2 project in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Space Perspective\u2019s description of its capsule as a spacecraft sparked some pushback among space enthusiasts on social media. A community note appeared on the company\u2019s X post unveiling the capsule Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpaceship Neptune is not a spaceship by any internationally accepted definition of space,\u201d the community note read.<\/p>\n

MacCallum defended Space Perspective\u2019s characterization of the capsule.<\/p>\n

,<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have to be regulated as a spacecraft, we\u2019re going to call it a spacecraft,\u201d he said. \u201cThe FAA determined that if your vehicle is designed to operate above 30 kilometers, your vehicle is a spacecraft because [it\u2019s a] space environment functionally not an aircraft environment \u2026 It\u2019s a fraction of a percent of the air pressure (compared to sea level). So the system has to function like it\u2019s a spacecraft getting rid of heat in a near-vacuum. We have to deal with the radiation environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunctionally, for us, that\u2019s the environment that we\u2019re in,\u201d he said. \u201cThe sky is black, the Earth is curved, the horizon is a thin blue line. So, the experience is certainly that of being in space. Obviously, we don\u2019t try to be astronauts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Space Perspective\u2019s capsule is 16 feet (4.9 meters) in diameter, with large vertical windows to provide nearly 360-degree panoramic views. Up to eight customers and one Space Perspective pilot will be on each flight. The capsule has a pressurized volume of more than 2,000 cubic feet (60 cubic meters), about twice that of Virgin Galactic\u2019s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane or Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft. The passenger cabin will be suspended under a giant helium balloon as tall as a skyscraper.<\/p>\n

MacCallum and Space Perspective\u2019s other co-founder, Jane Poynter, were crew members on the Biosphere 2 project in the 1990s. Since then, they have become serial entrepreneurs in the space industry. One of their most successful companies, Paragon Space Development Corporation, has won contracts to provide life support equipment for NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, Boeing\u2019s Starliner capsule, and a new commercial spacesuit developed by Axiom Space.<\/p>\n

Space Perspective says 1,750 people have reserved a seat on one of their balloon flights. The company aims to begin commercial service in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Space Perspective could begin test flights of its privately owned capsule suspended under a high-altitude balloon within the next couple of months, the company\u2019s co-founder told Ars this week. Florida-based Space Perspective released photos of its first completed test capsule Tuesday. The company will use this pressurized capsule, called Excelsior, for a series of test flights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4671,291,1533],"class_list":["post-45431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-balloon","tag-commercial-space","tag-space-perspective"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45431"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}