World View is another company that has entered the space tourism market. World View bills itself as the world’s leading stratospheric ballooning company, and it recently announced a service expansion that includes a global launch of an edge-of-space experience. The company bills its offering as the world’s most affordable and longest-lasting space experience.
A trip into space with SpaceX, such as the Inspiration4 mission that ended recently, is only affordable compared to the millions of dollars it costs. World View takes deposits for trips to the edge of space in a capsule suspended beneath a balloon. A $500 deposit is required to secure a seat on a commercial flight, but the seat itself costs $50,000.
For those who can’t afford to pay the $50000 in one go, World View says it has “flexible financing options.” Commercial clients are expected to begin in early 2024, with Space For Humanity already securing the inaugural flight. Space View intends to launch its voyages from the “Seven Wonders of the World, Stratospheric Edition” locations.
The Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, the Serengeti in Kenya, the aurora borealis in Norway, Amazonia and Brazil, Egypt’s Giza pyramids, and Mongolia’s Great Wall of China are among the spaceports from which flights will take off. According to World View, those locations are listed in the order in which they will open. Each location has a large structure or landmark visible from a great distance.
The voyages are five days long and include excursions from spaceports that allow passengers to experience the locations in various ways. Each flight will have eight people on board, as well as two World View crew members. The capsules will ascend to an altitude of about 100,000 feet or about 23 miles. The flights will last anywhere from six to twelve hours.
Source: businesswire
