Space Perspective has announced plans to fly passengers and research payloads to the edge of space with its Spaceship Neptune. Flown by a pilot, Neptune will take up to eight passengers on a six-hour journey to 100,000 feet, above 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere, and back.
“We’re committed to fundamentally changing the way people have access to space – both to perform much-needed research to benefit life on Earth and to affect how we view and connect with our planet,” said Space Perspective Founder and Co-CEO Jane Poynter in a press release. “Today, it is more crucial than ever to see Earth as a planet, a spaceship for all humanity and our global biosphere.”
Aside from pitching itself as a rarefied tourist experience, Space Perspective is marketing itself to researchers, educators, and students from academic institutions. The first test flight is scheduled for 2021.
The company has signed a lease with Space Florida, the state’s spaceport development authority.
The principals behind the company, Jane and Taber designed the air, food and water systems for Biosphere 2, the most advanced prototype space base ever built.