Florida company selling tickets for 'space balloon' rides
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Florida-based Space Perspective wants to send you on a luxury trip that promises spectacular views of Earth and the stars
CEO Jane Poynter says they are now accepting reservations for these balloon space rides. They are slated to take off in 2024.
"We call our customers ‘space explorers.’ They are going to space to have the quintessential astronaut experience," Poynter explains.
Poynter says the ride offers travelers a calm rise to space on a six-hour trip, with a view that’s out of this world.
"The sun will rise, you will see the thin blue line of our atmosphere, the curvature of our atmosphere, sun and the blackness of space. Then you will gently come back down and splash down in the ocean and you will be brought ashore," says Poynter.
The cost of a ticket is $125,000 – a price Space Perspective says is a bargain, compared to other options like Virgin Galactic’s $250,000 dollar space flight.
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Last week, the company completed its first successful test flight on its Neptune One uncrewed test spacecraft.
"Probably towards the end of 2023 we will have our first piloted flight, it will give us a series of human flights that will take us to the end of 2024 when we will have our first commercial flight with paying passengers," said chief technology officer Taber MacCallum.
"We have people going who have thought about going to space, dreamt about going to space their entire lives but really couldn't imagine going on a rocket but could imagine going on this, and are going because it is so accessible," said Poynter.
The CEO says the first several flights are already sold out and encourages people who are interested to book now.
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