An Arizona company has successfully completed the first small-scale test flight of a high-altitude balloon and capsule which will give tourists a chance to float 20 miles above the Earth, the Associated Press reported. Their main selling point is to provide the tourists with a view of the Earth and its curve.
Six passengers and two crew members will be able to ride the balloon which will lift an accompanying capsule, big enough for the passengers to walk around, about 20 miles up and show a view of the Earth's curve. The $75,000 per-person flights will begin rides in 2016.
The flight's launch last week from Roswell, New Mexico broke the world record for highest parafoil flight by lifting a payload to 120,000 feet, CEO Jane Poynter of World View Enterprises said Tuesday in Tucson. "It went really, really, really well. Actually, the guys hit the ball out of the park. We're thrilled."
The system used a balloon about third the size of that planned for passenger flight to lift a payload of about one-tenth of what will be used to carry passengers, which is also similar to the one used in lifting Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner 128,000 feet to make a world-record breaking 24-mile sky dive in 2012.
In filings with the Federal Aviation Administration, World View said it planned to launch its flights from Spaceport America in New Mexico. But Poynter said that no final decision has been made on where to base the flights.
"Spaceport is where Virgin Galactic plans to launch its first space-tourism flights at a cost of $200,000 per person," according to the AP. "Development of Virgin's spacecraft has taken longer than originally planned, and it is unclear when the company, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, will make its first flight."
However, Poynter denied any competition with Virgin Galactic. "I don't think anyone anyone considers us in a race. We don't consider us in competition because the experience is so completely different."
