Commercial spaceflight is becoming more common; corporations like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have transported paying customers into space lately.
Those who wish to see Earth from an unusual perspective may soon have another choice. CNBC spoke to a few startups — France-based Zephalto, Florida-based Space Perspective and Arizona-based World View — that plan to launch tourists into the stratosphere using pressurized capsules and giant gas-filled balloons.
“The capsule itself is designed to carry eight passengers and two crew members into the stratosphere,” said Ryan Hartman, CEO of World View. “There will be a bar in the middle where people can gather, and of course there will be a bathroom on board the capsule as well.”
Balloon rides last about 6 hours but don’t take passengers into space. Most balloons reach altitudes of 15 to twenty miles (24 to 30 kilometers) above the Earth's surface and fly in an area called the stratosphere. The U.S. government generally considers the start of space to be about 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the Earth's surface.
Jane Poynter, founder and co-CEO of Space Perspective, disagrees.
“There is no universal definition of space,” Poynter said. “We are subject to the regulations of a spaceship. If we are above 100,000 feet, we are a spaceship. Outside the capsule, it is essentially a vacuum. We are above 99 percent of the Earth's atmosphere, which is why the sky is so pitch black.”
Compared to rocket-powered space tourism, the physical sensation passengers experience when riding in a stratospheric balloon is more comparable to that of an airplane. Passengers don’t experience weightlessness.
“There are no physical requirements to get into the balloon,” said Vincent Farret d'Astiès, founder and chief pilot of Zephalto. “Anyone who can get into a normal airplane can get into the balloon.”
All three corporations told CNBC they were pleased with customer interest. World Views said it had sold 1,250 tickets to this point, while Space Perspective sold 1,800. Zephalto didn’t tell CNBC what number of tickets it sold, but said its first flights were sold out.
Ticket prices range from $50,000 per seat at World View to around $184,000 at Zephalto. Space Perspective is selling tickets for its experience for $125,000 per seat. That's assuming the business service even involves fruition.
So far, only manned tests have been carried out with Zephalto, but not at the corporate's intended altitude of about 24 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
To learn more about this emerging market, watch the video.
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