It seems you don’t need a rocket to explore the boundary of space with Earth. French startup Zephalto has announced plans to send enthusiastic tourists into the stratosphere in a space balloon by 2025. Starting at 120,000 Euros per person, the six-hour round trip will offer “unique views” of Earth and a fine dining experience in the comfort of a luxury pressurized capsule called Celeste.
Vincent Farret d’Astiès, Zephalto founder and aeronautical engineer, told Bloomberg, “We choose the 25km altitude because that’s the altitude where you’re in the dark of space, 98% of the atmosphere is below you, and you can enjoy the Earth’s curvature on the blue line. You are standing in the darkness of space without any experience of zero gravity.”
According to TNW’s report, this tour will include gourmet meals, snacks, beverages, stratographic photography, and the possibility to instantly share the experience with people around the world via Wi-Fi, both pre-flight and in-flight. The capsule, currently being designed by French architect Joseph Dirand, will have a 20-square-metre interior room and will accommodate six passengers as well as two pilots.
Filled with helium or hydrogen, the balloon will depart from France and reach an altitude of 25 km in about an hour and a half. That’s about twice as high as commercial jets operate, but well below the space limit at 80-100km above sea level. At its highest altitude, the balloon will hover for three hours to ensure you have enough time to comfortably enjoy the sights before landing back on the ground.
These goals may seem huge, but the initiative, which was founded in 2016, is backed by some high-profile names including Airbus, Dassault, the National Center for Space Research (CNES) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Zephalto aims to have 60 flights a year when it goes into commercial operation. It made three test flights with pilots, but none of them reached full altitude. The company plans to reach the target altitude in a test flight later this year.
Of course, crewed high-altitude balloons are not a new idea. Such experiments were carried out relatively early, as in 1931, when the Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard was the first person to reach the stratosphere by climbing 16 kilometers in a pressurized capsule carried by a helium balloon. Such studies may be a more sustainable and accessible alternative to rocket-based space tourism.
However, Zephalto has not even completed its first commercial test flight, the capsule has not yet reached its final design, and the commercial launch date continues to be delayed. The startup has not made a clear statement on a number of details, including where exactly the balloons will be launched or whether they have received flight clearance from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
But while space balloon initiatives have yet to fully deliver on their promises, Zephalto, like most other startups, is already taking pre-bookings. If all goes as planned, the first commercial departure could happen in two years.
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