Trip to space for $125K Space balloon with Richard Branson as co-pilot to launch in 2025 Space Perspective has confirmed that the flight will take Place in 2025 Branson is an Investor in the Company which it says will Help Accelerate its Development and Test Flight Programme
Friday, 18 Oct 2024 18:30 pm

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Sir Richard Branson is set to travel to space once again after becoming the first billionaire to reach space in 2021.

The businessman will co-pilot the world's first commercial stratospheric balloon flight.

Branson will be sitting inside a pressurised capsule which will be towed by a balloon 20 miles up into the sky.

The Virgin co-founder earlier travelled to the edge of Earth's atmosphere on board a Virgin Galactic spacecraft three years back.

Space Perspective's maiden voyage is expected to happen in 2025, although a specific date hasn't been set yet. He will be one of three pilots on board the space balloon. Company co-founders Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum will be the other two pilots.

Branson has undertaken balloon journeys as well. He broke two ballooning world records when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1987 and the Pacific Ocean in 1991.

"Some of the most magnificent experiences of my life have happened on ballooning expeditions and I'm excited to support Space Perspective in its journey," he said.

How does the space balloon work?
The space balloon will carry the Spaceship Neptune capsule into the sky.

It is massive and would stand nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower. At the time of the launch, the balloon will fill up with hydrogen and will lift the capsule. It will move at a speed of roughly 12 miles per hour.

Upon reaching an altitude of around 20 miles, it will be above the atmosphere, floating in a space at levels a commercial balloon flight has never reached.

An uncrewed test flight of the same was successfully carried out at the same flight trajectory and altitude in September.

Space Perspective has confirmed that the flight will take place in 2025. Branson is an investor in the company which it says will help accelerate its development and test flight programme.

Luxurious space trip at $125,000 seat apiece
The capsule can seat eight passengers, with each spot costing $125,000.

One will also be given food and drinks, and high-speed WIFI along with being treated to fascinating views of Earth.

Space Perspective said that the trip will last a total of six hours, of which passengers will get two hours to watch "the total blackness of space, and the thin blue line of our atmosphere" while hanging out in the stratosphere.

The other four hours will be for the Neptune capsule to reach its maximum height and then descend back to the ground.

Space Perspective says that more than 1,800 reservations have already been made.