The co-pilot on the first flight of Space Perspective’s crewed stratospheric balloon was Virgin Galactic founder, billionaire Richard Branson. In his youth, in 1987 and 1991, he made two transoceanic flights in a hot air balloon and is ready, so to speak, to “shake the dust off his old balloon license.”
Richard Branson in 1991, waiting for a hot air balloon flight across the Pacific Ocean. Image source: News UK Ltd/Shutterstock
In September of this year, the comfortable Neptune-Excelsior capsule for eight passengers made a test flight without a crew. A hydrogen-filled balloon lifted it to a height of about 30 km – this is the ceiling for this type of aircraft. Since at this altitude the atmosphere is extremely rarefied and very cold, the capsule is completely sealed and maintains a comfortable microclimate inside. Moreover, the capsule is equipped with a full bathroom, bar and observation decks. Each flight will last at least six hours, and during this time passengers will have to feel at home.
Branson will be accompanied on the flight by Space Perspective co-founders Taber MacCollum and Jane Poynter, who will also serve as co-pilots. Separately, it became known that Richard Branson invested in Space Perspective. In total, the company has currently collected investments worth about $100 million. The first flight with people on board is expected within 2025. The list of those wishing to go on an exciting air journey to the border with the atmosphere (the border with space will still be 50 to 70 km away) includes 1,800 people. The cost of one seat is $125 thousand.
View of the Earth from a hot air balloon from a height of 30 km. Image source: Space Perspective
Richard Branson can already call himself an astronaut. In the summer of 2021, he made a suborbital flight on a rocket from his company Virgin Galactic. Flying on a stratospheric balloon will be a slightly different experience, but also with magnificent views of the curves of the Earth against the backdrop of the blackness of space.