The company that plans on launching space tourists on a balloon from Kennedy Space Center is now working on expanding flight operations to a fleet of ships that it can deploy across the globe.
Space Perspective, which has its headquarters at facilities adjacent to the former shuttle landing facility at KSC, announced Tuesday it had acquired the first ship for that effort, named MS Voyager.
Calling it “the world’s first marine spaceport,” the name pays homage to Voyager I, the satellite launched in 1977 that at the request of famed astronomer Carl Sagan took a photo of Earth in 1990 that has since been referred to as the Pale Blue Dot.
“Space Perspective will change your relationship with our planet by providing the quintessential astronaut experience of viewing Earth from the blackness of space,” said Jane Poynter, Space Perspective’s founder and co-CEO in a news release. “It’s imperative for us to think about our business with a global mindset. Removing geographic borders for launch and landing accelerates our mission of making this transformative experience more accessible to the world and international marketplace – safely, reliably and with minimal impact on our planet.”
While initial launches of the balloon are planned from KSC in 2024, plans are to use its ship to offer flights to take advantage of “marquee global events” as well as allow for views of some of the world’s “most iconic geography,” according to the release.
“We always imagined offering the opportunity to view the most incredible natural phenomena from space, including the Northern Lights, the boot of Italy, the sheer scale of the Nile Delta, and the deep blue seas around the Bahamas. Marine spaceports like MS Voyager make this a reality,” Poynter said.
The first flights that cost $125,000 per passenger, will take up to eight guests on six-hour flights that travel up to 20 miles above the Earth’s surface in a capsule called Spaceship Neptune offering 360-degree views while suspended from a 650-foot-tall balloon.
The company performed an uncrewed test flight in 2021 that flew across Florida and landed in the Gulf of Mexico, reaching an altitude of 108,409 feet. The company plans a crewed test flight in 2023. It aims to pilot 25 flights in its first year of operation. U.S.-based flights are subject to approval by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Spaceflight.
The company said a shift to ship-based launches provides mobility to avoid poor weather conditions, timely launches to take advantage of sunrises, sunsets and stargazing, and year-round operations that will allow for more customers. The company has said more than 1,000 customers have already signed up for its first planned flights from KSC.
The 292-foot-long ship will be based at Port Canaveral after being outfitted at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana to allow for launch and retrieval of the company’s balloons. The company plans to use the ship in 2023 for upcoming test flights.
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