Fri, Oct 25, 2013
World View Says It's Capsule Will Be Carried Aloft By A Balloon
A company which plans to offer "an accessible, affordable platform to take passengers into nearspace for a human spaceflight experience unlike any other suborbital opportunity being offered today" has been accepted as a commercial space system by the FAA. The company, called World View, has announced plans for human flight into nearspace it says will be unlike any other suborbital spaceflight experience being offered today, "allowing passengers to remain aloft for hours at a comparably affordable price."
World View says its spaceflight experience will begin with a gentle ride in the comfort of a luxuriously appointed space-qualified capsule, lifted by a high altitude balloon to 30 km. There, passengers will remain aloft for approximately two hours before gliding back to Earth. "Passengers will be among the few to have seen the curvature of the Earth with their own eyes. They will be able to gaze at the astounding views, the blackness of space, the brilliance of stars and the thin veil of atmosphere enveloping our planet – scenes previously witnessed exclusively by astronauts – for $75,000," the company said in a news release.
The FAA recently determined that World View’s spacecraft and its operations fall under the jurisdiction of the office of Commercial Space Flight (51 U.S.C. Chapter 509).
Paragon Space Development Corporation is the vehicle developer. The company brings over 20 years of spaceflight experience and patent-pending technologies to World View, and has already begun component testing. Subscale testing will soon get underway, demonstrating the flight characteristics of the overall integrated system.
“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. It is also our goal to open up a whole new realm for exercising human curiosity, scientific research and education,” said Jane Poynter, CEO of World View. “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.”
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