In a seed round that will allow the company to test its technology, Space Perspective, a startup aiming to sell visitors trips to edge of space in an elevated balloon, has secured $7 million. Space Perspective reported on Dec. 2 that the seed round, led by Prime Movers Lab and Base Ventures funds, had ended.
Others involved in the round included the Central Florida Tech Fund of Kirenaga Partners, 1517 Fund, SpaceFund Venture Capital, E2MC Ventures, Schox as well as Tony Robbins, an entrepreneur, and author. The organization, which currently has approximately 15 workers, will be using the funding to begin Spaceship Neptune production, a stratospheric balloon device intended to take passengers to a height of 30 kilometres. This flight will offer individuals an experience that is close to some aspects of spaceflight, especially the view.
For the first part of 2021, the system’s first test flight with no people on board is expected from Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Taber MacCallum, the co-founder and co-chief executive of the Space Perspective, said during an interview that, “It lets us jump into intense testing of hardware.”
Next year, the organization also plans to begin selling commercial flight tickets the Space Perspective plans to start in late 2024. The other co-founder as well as co-chief executive, Jane Poynter, said the business had already been telling individuals to register to be first in line. “We were thrilled with the feedback we got,” she added. “We are preparing to begin turning such into tickets.”
The business is negotiating with Federal Aviation Administration in order to acquire the commercial launch license, in addition to sample flights as well as ticket sales. The process, MacCallum stated, should be simpler now that updated regulations referred to as Part 450 have been finalized by the FAA to streamline licensing for launch as well as a re-entry. “It will indeed make our work much easier,” he said, referencing the use of the performance-based considerations instead of using the past with more prescriptive rules.
“It is oriented towards new technologies, and in the new technology portion of that, we’re kind of extreme.” In June, Space Perspective revealed its preparations for stratospheric flights with balloons. At an altitude of about 30 kilometres, the balloon would hold a pressurized cabin with many passengers as well as crew on board, spending approximately 2 hours there. The balloon would then descend slowly, with cabin splashing down into the ocean to be picked up by a truck.
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