Balloon ride to space possible from 2024

An American startup is literally taking ballooning to the next level. This week Space Perspective presented the design of spacelounge the Neptune: a large capsule, which thanks to an enormous balloon can take its passengers to an altitude of 30 kilometers.Text: Fleur de Jong
Image: Space PerspectiveLast summer, space tourists could already make reservations for a spot aboard the Neptune and Space Perspective even made it possible to use crypto to make a deposit. This week, the American startup finally revealed photos of the interior. The photos show that you can even enjoy a cocktail at high altitude. In fact, the Neptune is equipped with a bar, comfortable seats, mood lighting, panoramic windows and even wifi. So you will lack nothing.

A nice touch is that the Space Perspective experience is designed to reduce its impact on the environment. Instead of large rocket engines, the Neptune uses the buoyancy of the balloon. During descent, just enough gas is released to maintain a comfortable descent speed. In this way, a trip to space is nearly emission-free.The Netptune doesn't actually take tourists to space, however. The Kármán Line is the boundary that separates Earth from space and is at an altitude of 100 kilometers above Earth; the spacecraft goes up to 30 kilometers high. According to Space Perspective, this will be enough to see the curvature of the earth. Passengers will also not experience weightlessness during the flight. The Neptune departs from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight will last a total of six hours.

To spend six hours enjoying the view of Earth will require some patience, by the end of 2024 Space Perspective expects to begin commercial flights. For a ticket, you'll have to put down about €115,000.

Also read: 'Elon Musk's SpaceX shoots civilians into space'