Balloon trip to Space? Florida's Space Perspective offers 6-hr luxury ride for ₹93 lakh

In an exceptional development, Space Perspective, a Florida based company has offered tickets for a six-hour luxury ride in a high-tech hot air balloon to a height of 100,000 feet in the stratosphere at a price of about ₹93 lakh. The company is now reserving seats for the early 2024 flight of its Spaceship Neptune. 

Spaceship Neptune is a hot air balloon style capsule lifted by hydrogen that is estimated to fly suspended to a giant balloon and take off. On June 23, the company began selling for its inaugural voyage way high into the sky. The trip is scheduled for late 2024 aboard the Spaceship Neptune. Interested travellers ought to pay a $1000 deposit. 

Space Flight & Space Explorers

The Florida based company is branding the luxury ride as Space Flight and passengers would be called Space Explorers. The capsule is set to send passengers on a "leisurely" climb into space from a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The excursion will travel up to 20 miles above the Earth's surface for a "profoundly life-changing" experience.

"Throughout the six-hour journey, all guests will enjoy the best reclining seats in the house to soak in the 450-mile, 360-degree view, an open call on dress, champagne, and a bathroom," Space Perspective said in a press release. 

Spaceship Neptune's capsule will measure 700 feet tall and feature plush seating, 360-degree panoramic windows, WiFi access and other amenities. After being inflated, the space balloon that lifts the capsule will be "the size of a football stadium," Space Perspective said. 

There will be a captain on board and passengers won't require specialized training before liftoff. At its highest altitude, Spaceship Neptune will allow passengers to see the curvature of Earth against a backdrop of the sun, the company said.

Civilians have flown as Space guests or paying passengers aboard US and Russian spacecraft in the past, however, those trips were sponsored missions by respective governments and piloted by professional astronauts. Space Perspective and other spaceflights are offering something notably different as per companies' clarification.