March 28, 2024

The Spanish company will send tourists into space on huge helium balloons

The Spanish company will send tourists into space on huge helium balloons

Zero 2 Infinity offers a view of our planet from the upper stratosphere aboard a capsule attached to a giant helium balloon.

This journey will take about five hours, andTwo pilots will monitor the entire process. During a 4-hour takeoff, the Bloon capsule can lift up to four passengers to an altitude of 40 km. By comparison, commercial planes fly about 10 km above the ground.

In the stratosphere, tourists will not only be able to enjoy the view of the planet's surface, but also see outer space. After this, the capsule is separated fromballoon and deploys the parachute, smoothly descending to the surface for an hour.

Depending on weather conditions, landingcan occur within a radius of 300 km from the launch site. Immediately after boarding, passengers will be met by representatives of the company with transport. This year, Zero 2 Infinity successfully conducted a test flight with a robot on board the capsule, which rose to an altitude of 36 km. Officials have not yet disclosed the timing of the start of the provision of services.

Since this method does not require the useexpensive rockets, the cost of one trip for each passenger will be about $130 thousand. This is significantly cheaper than the proposals of SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, which ask for millions.

text: Ilya Bauer, photo and video: Zero 2 Infinity