Founded in 2019, Space Perspective plans to send tourists to the edge of the Earth’s upper atmosphere in a capsule pushed by a high-altitude balloon the size of the Statue of Liberty.
Space Perspective says its views will be comparable to the experiences of passengers aboard Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin ships, which plan to push paying customers into space. But there are differences. Space Perspective passengers will not experience G-Force, zero gravity or rocket propulsion, for example, and will reach a lower altitude than its rivals.
“We are passionate about fundamentally changing the way humans access space, both to deliver much-needed research that will benefit life on Earth and to impact the way we view and connect with our planet,” says founder and CEO Jane Poynter.
“Today, it is more important than ever to see Earth as an interconnected planet, a spaceship for all of humanity and our global biosphere. This expanded view of our Earth is the life-transforming perspective that astronauts talk about when they see Earth in space. This is the Space Perspective.”
So how does Space Perspective compare to Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic? Let’s take a look.
How long is the voyage?
Space Perspective passengers arrive at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, receive a safety briefing and facilities overview, and then prepare for a six-hour spaceflight. The capsule rises at night, allowing passengers to experience the darkness of space before sunrise, allowing those on board to witness the curvature of the Earth and the thin blue line of the atmosphere. Virgin Galactic’s spaceflight lasts about 90 minutes to two hours, while Blue Origin’s rocket-propelled experience is much shorter; approximately 11 minutes.
Decision: At six hours, you get a lot more bang for your buck (and by that we mean life-affirming views from the edge of space).
What is the price?
It’s about money. You will need to make a refundable deposit of $1,000 (£793) to secure your place on the Space Perspective flight. The total price is around $125,000 (£99,031) per passenger. By comparison, seat tickets on Virgin Galactic cost $450,000 (£356,000). A seat on the suborbital Blue Origin flight is estimated to cost between $300,000 (£237,000) and $400,000 (£316,000).
Decision: Space Perspective is definitely a more cost-effective way to tickle the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.
How’s the situation in the cabin?
You will be in the cabin (named Neptune) with eight passengers and a pilot; This means that if you have a million dollars to spare, there is the option of booking the entire capsule for special occasions. Space Perspective’s unique feature is that its 16-foot-diameter “space lounge” has room for passengers to get up and move around. Most importantly, there is a fully stocked bar and a culinary experience on board. Space Perspective also features onboard music, high-speed wi-fi, and video cameras that record the entire journey. There is also a toilet with a view. Both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin’s cabins have more of a spaceship feel and definitely lack a bar area or restroom.
Decision: Space Perspective is definitely the winner here. Its cabin features a fully stocked bar at the edge of space, for crying out loud. However, the presence of wi-fi is probably a negative. If you’re going to take a six-hour break from Gary Lineker’s tweets, it should probably be here.
Is there weightlessness?
No. You’ll experience good old-fashioned gravity throughout your Space Perspective flight, as there’s no free fall, but instead the ship moves at 12 miles per hour. Both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin offer zero gravity for several minutes. There’s a debate on social media about whether Space Perspective can describe its journey as entering “space” given the maximum altitude, but we won’t get into that here.
Decision: It depends on what you’re interested in, but if you’re spending your life savings to go to space (or somewhere close to it), you might want to float around at least a little bit.
What will I be able to see?
Space Perspective reaches its highest point at an altitude of 30 km (100,000 ft) and will remain there for two hours. At this altitude you’ll be able to see 450 miles in each direction, nearly all of Florida. Note that the windows in Space Perspective are “the largest windows ever sent into space” and allow for nearly 360-degree panoramic views of the Earth. By comparison, Virgin Galactic reaches an altitude of 88 km (290,000 ft), and Blue Origin’s test flight reached 100 km (330,000 ft), crossing the Kármán Line, the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and suborbital space. Virgin Galactic has porthole-sized windows, and Blue Origin’s pod has slightly larger rectangular windows.
Decision? Space Perspective goes about three times as high as the average commercial flight, but not as high as Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin. So the views won’t be as impressive. But the windows are bigger, that’s something. And don’t forget the bar.
Is it energy efficient?
Space Perspective would certainly be more energy efficient than Virgin Atlantic and Blue Origin’s efforts. Space Perspective claims to operate with near-zero emissions because it does not require any rocket fuel and instead relies on a hydrogen-fueled balloon larger than the Statue of Liberty that “floats like an ice cube floating on water.” But the SpaceBalloon can only be used once and is recycled after each flight, and operations still produce carbon emissions, as Space Perspective notes.
Decision: Whichever way you look at it, Space Perspective’s carbon footprint is smaller than Branson and Bezos’ projects.
Is it safe?
NASA and other research institutions around the world have used similar balloons since the 1950s; Space Perspective says the core technology has “flew safely above 100,000 feet more than a thousand times” and is “inherently safe.” They also say it won’t explode. “If the balloon has a hole in its envelope, it will descend very slowly and float to a safe landing,” they say. Space Perspective explains that it uses hydrogen fuel instead of helium: “Hydrogen has been proven to be a safe gas for use in balloons; in fact, thousands of human-crewed balloons have been flown using hydrogen since the beginning of flight in the 1700s. There is not a single recorded flight incident attributed to hydrogen.” Both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have launched successful spaceflights with their respective CEOs.
Decision: They will all have impeccable health and safety records once you find yourself on board, but with Space Perspective, being adrift in a balloon poses less risk than riding something fired by a rocket going to higher altitudes.
What will happen when it lands?
Space Perspective describes its landing as a “gentle ocean splash.” The capsule is then “quickly lifted from the sea and placed on the ship’s deck, where the explorers will disembark and celebrate their return.” Blue Origin’s rocket shuttle ascends vertically and then descends vertically as well. Virgin Galactic’s space plane lands on a runway, just like an airplane.
Decision: Splashdown sounds a little annoying, right? The option of landing on a runway like a plane with Virgin Galactic is probably the most appetizing option for tense flights.
Will it really happen?
Space Perspective says it hopes to conduct test flights within the next few months and plans to send its first paying customers into space in early 2025. Whether this date will happen or not depends on the results of the test flights. Virgin Galactic successfully sent paying passengers into space in August 2023 after Branson boarded the first fully crewed plane in 2021 after years of delays. Blue Origin conducted its first suborbital space flight in July 2021. Neither yet offers regular passenger service to space.
Decision: Watch this space.