Space Perspective preps first crewed balloon flight 20 miles up | Tech Reader

Space Perspective is preparing for the first crewed flight of its stratospheric balloon, and Virgin Galactic founder and adventurer Richard Branson will be going along for the ride.

Branson, who together with pilot and engineer Per Lindstrand made record-setting hot-air balloon flights across the Atlantic and the Pacific three decades ago, will serve as a co-pilot on the flight, which Space Perspective is aiming to conduct next year. Space Perspective founders Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter will join Branson as co-pilots aboard the Spaceship Neptune balloon.

“Some of the most magnificent experiences of my life have happened on ballooning expeditions and I’m excited to support Space Perspective in its journey,” Branson, who flew to the edge of space with Virgin Galactic in 2021, said in a statement this week. “I’m passionate about adventure and helping fellow entrepreneurs reach their business dreams. I look forward to dusting off my old ballooning license ahead of some magnificent test flights.”

Space Perspective conducted a successful uncrewed test flight of its balloon last month. The pressurized capsule uses hydrogen power and can fly up to eight passengers to an altitude of 20 miles, equal to about 105,000 feet, or about three times that flown by a passenger jet in cruising mode.

The goal of the Florida-based company is to provide a luxurious tourism experience that offers epic views of Earth against the blackness of space over a six-hour journey from launch to landing. In 2021, Space Perspective started offering tickets for the ride at $125,000 per person.

Unlike Blue Origin’s New Shepard space tourism experience and Branson’s own Virgin Galactic ride, which both use rocket power to carry passengers to the edge of space, Space Perspective proposes an altogether gentler trip, with no rockets, weightlessness, heavy g-forces, or training, though it should be noted that it only reaches about a third of the altitude of the Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic experiences.

“Richard’s pioneering efforts in the ballooning industry were a key inspiration for us when we founded Space Perspective,” Poynter said. “We are now on a mission to give explorers breathtaking views of the Earth against a black sky, and do so gently in a way that only balloons enable.”