You could soon take balloon ride from Alaska to the edge of space, details inside

Humans could soon be able to fly to the edge of the space as a company in the United States is planning to offer balloon rides to people in a few years. Space Perspective, a company based out of the United States announced its plans to fly passengers and research payloads to the edge of space with its Spaceship Neptune, a high-performance balloon, and a pressurised capsule. The company has said that it will test its first flight for Space Neptune in early 2021, which will be without any crew members. 

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"We’re committed to fundamentally changing the way people have access to space – both to perform much-needed research to benefit life on Earth and to affect how we view and connect with our planet. Today, it is more crucial than ever to see Earth as a planet, a spaceship for all humanity and our global biosphere," said Space Perspective Founder and Co-CEO Jane Poynter. 

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The human space flight company plans to launch from the iconic Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, with the first uncrewed test flight scheduled for early 2021 that will include a suite of research payloads. Space Perspective has also entered into a Space Act Agreement with NASA, under which the American state-run space agency may provide uniquely capable services available at KSC to the company on a reimbursable basis.

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Neptune takes up to eight passengers

"Flown by a pilot, Neptune takes up to eight passengers called 'Explorers' on a six-hour journey to the edge of space and safely back, where only 20 people have been before. It will carry people and research payloads on a two-hour gentle ascent above 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere to 1,00,000 feet, where it cruises above the Earth for up to two hours allowing passengers to share their experience via social media and with their fellow Explorers," the company said on its website. 

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The company claims to have completed extensive international market research to built the new design on 50+ years of proven technology. Spaceship Neptune, the balloon reportedly measures the length of a football stadium. The company claims that Neptune is suited for research areas of interest including Atmospheric science that could shed light on Earth’s climate and air systems, Astro- and solar-physics to illuminate the understanding of the universe, Astrobiology to explore the limits of life on the planet and beyond.