Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Space, International Space Station
Tom Fenton
Space tourism could be just around the corner, with one company now pledging to take passengers to the very edges of the Earth's atmosphere in a 'huge balloon' for £100,000 per person.
The six hour journey will reportedly happen in a balloon-powered vessel the size of a football stadium, offering stunning views as you rise 100,000 feet above the planet.
That's the lofty ambition of tech start-up Space Perspective, whose co-founder and co-CEO Jane Poytner envisions passengers sipping cocktails while still sampling the "quintessential astronaut experience."
The voyage will happen 'very gently and smoothly' according to the company chief.
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"It's a completely different experience," she added, noting that the panoramic views from the capsule will be life-changing.
"You will have that incredibly black sky. When we take you up predawn, you'll get the most outrageous stargaze you've ever seen."
According to Space Perspective, tickets will cost around $125,000 each, or just under £100,000, which will require a $1000 refundable deposit.
While eye-wateringly expensive for most of us earthlings, the ticket would be a fair bit cheaper than Virgin Galactic's space tourism pass, which is slated to cost around $450,000 (£342,000).
The passion project of founder Richard Branson, Virgin's first commercial flights is expected to take off later this year.
As for Space Perspective, meanwhile, you can expect to see the company's first piloted test flight in 2023, with maiden voyages - should everything go according to plan - getting underway from 2024.
While balloon travel remains a relatively novel approach to space tourism, the reduced costs involved (when compared to rocket propulsion) could make it a much more affordable alternative for those who wish to kiss the sky - and expand their horizons.
"Remember we're at the very beginning of the industry. Every industry that has changed the world, like aviation, like computers, when they start out, it was very difficult to imagine a vast number of people using computers or airplanes," Poytner adds.
"The same is going to be true for space travel. It's just going to take a little bit of time for the price to come down as it scales."