There may be a more "affordable" commercial spaceflight on the table by 2016.
For $75,000 eight patrons would be lifted to nearly 100,000 feet in a pressurized capsule attached to a giant helium balloon, the Washington Post reported.
Passengers would enjoy an hour and a half-long ascension, and would then spend about two hours observing the Earth from high-above.
"The sky's going to be completely black. You'll be able to see the curvature of the Earth," said Jane Poynter, co-founder of Paragon Space Development Corp., said, the Washington Post reported.
After the two hours were up the capsule would detach from the balloon in a better-than-an-amusement-park free fall; a parafoil would become increasingly more effective as the capsule reached the lower atmosphere's thicker air, allowing it to glide gently to the ground.
The wild ride will be run by World View Enterprises, which will begin selling tickets as early as within the next few months, NBC News reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently decided the venture would follow commercial spaceflight rules as opposed to rules for atmospheric balloon trips, even though it does not technically reach the realms of space 62 miles above. The capsule would not make it high enough for passengers to experience zero gravity sensations.
The FAA will not address the more difficult question of whether Paragon's proposed altitude of 30 kilometers constitutes outer space," the FAA stated, the Washington Post reported.
The journey will be less expensive than Virgin Galactic's $250,000 suborbital rides or XCOR Aerospace's $95,000 "rocket-plane trips," NBC reported.
"Seeing the Earth hanging in the ink-black void of space will help people realize our connection to our home planet and to the universe around us, and will surely offer a transformative experience to our customers," Jane Poynter, World View's chief executive officer, said in a statement, NBC reported. "We look forward to pioneering this new, accessible and affordable spaceflight regime, and to sharing the breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime experience with people from around the globe.
