When you've visited the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, the Serengeti and the Pyramids of Giza, what do you do to get the ultimate bragging rights?
You go see them again - but from the edge of space.
Stratospheric hot air balloon company World View has just opened reservations to line up for epic five-day hot air balloon voyages that promise to take travelers 100,000 feet above some of the most majestic landmarks on Earth.
Want to see if the Great Wall of China can be seen from space? The goal of World View is to allow passengers to discover it with their own eyes.
The company’s first commercial flights are scheduled to begin in early 2024 — Grand Canyon National Park is the site of its first spaceport — and will cost $50,000 per seat.
Pan-global ambitions
The company claimed in its press release that "the World View space tourism experience is the most affordable, longest-lasting and most accessible space experience on Earth."
World View is headquartered in Tuscon, Arizona. Led by former Insitu CEO Ryan Hartman since 2019, it has developed ambitious pan-global plans. After
opens the Grand Canyon's first spaceport in Arizona, its next targets are - in order of expected opening date - Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Kenya's Serengeti, Norway's Northern Lights, Brazil's The Amazon River, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and finally the Great Wall of China in Mongolia.
World View calls these locations the "Seven Wonders of the World, Stratosphere Edition."
The idea is that flights will take off from these prime locations, lifting eight passengers and two crew members to an altitude of 100,000 feet, roughly four times the height of a standard commercial aircraft flight, and nearly 23 miles into the stratosphere.
They will be amplified in zero-pressure balloons and pressurized capsules, then gently float through the atmosphere, allowing guests to experience the curvature of the Earth and the awe-inspiring darkness of space. Each trip on the
aircraft will last between six and 12 hours, during which time guests can enjoy in-flight meals and bars as well as internet data connectivity, use the in-flight concierge service, view Earth observation cameras, star telescopes and personal viewing screens, or simply Relax on the fully reclining seat.
This is part of a promised five-day immersive experience, during which participants will be treated to a journey from the spaceport to explore the local terrestrial wonders.
Hartman told CNN this could include "helicopter tours, hot air balloon rides, fine dining experiences and many other excursions."
Make the world a better place - but from space
It's not just World View's ambition - or indeed its ballooning - that's lofty. There are also considerable thoughts on its impact on space tourism excursions.
By bringing "as many people as possible to the edge of space," the company's stated hope is that "they will see a world without borders or species and be driven back to make it a better place."
OK . Well, the world is already struggling so much that nothing else is working – so we might as well give the stratospheric thing a try?
World View supported this mission by conducting its first flight in partnership with the non-profit organization Space For Humanity.
Space for Humanity will select citizen astronauts through a vetting process, after which they will receive specialized training on how they will use their experiences in space to address the challenges they will face as leaders back on Earth. The nonprofit will pay for all citizen astronauts' expenses, which will be covered through the organization's fundraising efforts.
As for everyone else, paying participants can now reserve a spot in line for commercial flights with an initial deposit of $500.
At $50,000 a seat, it’s cheaper than many Everest expeditions—and you’re less likely to get frostbite.
World View isn't the only company competing in the balloon space race.Its biggest competitor is Florida-based Space Perspective, which also hopes to start balloon flights on its spaceship Neptune in 2024 — though it will cost a lot more, at $125,000 per seat.
Space Perspective was founded in 2019 by Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter, two co-founders of World View.
You see, this isn't the first time World View has participated in a space rodeo. It was also chasing the space balloon dream with the Voyager spacecraft back in 2014, though admission at the time was $75,000 — not that the project came to fruition.
Hartman, who has been CEO of World View for two years, told CNN Travel that affordability and accessibility are at the core of their 2021 offerings. "$50,000 is still a lot of money. But it's our starting point. To help customers realize their dreams of participating in space tourism, we offer flexible financing."
Global Marketing Manager Phil Wocken further explained how they chose this price point. “We believe it is critical to keep costs low enough to be affordable to as many people as possible. Financing options do not exist in the $75-$125,000+ range.
“We also chose Helium while Instead of hydrogen being our lift gas, it costs 10 times as much, but we feel that's an important sacrifice as we prioritize flight safety. ”
Hydrogen has a poor record on safety – it famously powered the Hindenburg airship – but helium is also a non-renewable resource that is needed for critical medical applications. Its competition Rival Space Perspective chose to use hydrogen.
Wocken said: “Because we have developed a lot of technology for our flights based on years of experience and we are well-funded, we don’t need as much money for new research and development. ”
There are a lot of missions to the edge of space this year, with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic all working to achieve zero gravity.
As the world view is booming again Brilliant, the stratosphere may get a little busy.
Follow me and I'll take you to a hot air balloon next time.
