[imagesource:zephalto]

And so the race for novel commercial space travel begins.

A France-based startup Zephalto has partnered with the French space agency Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) to take people above Earth’s atmosphere in high-altitude stratospheric balloons.

That’s right, you will now be able to see a unique view of Earth in a huge balloon filled with hydrogen or helium.

Lifting off from the French spaceport, Zephalto’s pressurised capsule plans to ascend as high as 25 kilometres into Earth’s atmosphere with six passengers and two pilots on board.

Flights are scheduled to begin by 2025, but the company is already taking reservations for an $11 000 (just over R200 000) deposit, notes Space.

Don’t worry if you can’t get to France for this luxury space trip, because Zephalto plans to provide access worldwide, featuring “next opening” pins in every populated continent on a global map of Zephalto spaceports.

Something else that really sets Zephalto apart from competitors is its offering of a Michelin-star fine French cuisine dining experience with a window-seat view of the cosmos:

“We choose 25 kilometers high because it’s the altitude where you are in the darkness of space, with 98% of the atmosphere below you, so you can enjoy the curvature of the Earth in the blue line. You’re in the darkness of space, but without the zero gravity experience,” said aerospace engineer and Zephalto founder Vincent Farret d’Astiès.

That means the craft won’t be taking you to the Kármán Line, the technical border to space, which sits a full 100 kilometres up. Only Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson get to go there.

The flight is set to take a total of six hours, with an hour and a half for the ascent, three hours for wining, dining and sightseeing, and another hour and a half for your descent back to Earth.

Oh, and it will have Wi-Fi, so you can post your space pics before even returning to Earth. However, the hope is that “guests will return to Earth with new perspectives towards our precious planet, its beauty and how to protect it better” according to the French designer Joseph Dirand who designed the capsule’s interior.

The company is aiming for around 60 flights a year but is still waiting for its EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) certification as a commercial airliner.

Jeez, space tourism ought not to be this fancy.

[source:space]