The Morning Show Blog

Florida Company to Offer Balloon Rides to the Edge of Outer Space

Tropical Weather Environment Impacts
FILE – This file satellite image provided by NASA and taken by U.S. astronaut Christina Koch on Thursday, July 11, 2019 at the International Space Station, shows Tropical Storm Barry as it bears down on Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida as it makes its way through the Gulf of Mexico. Barry could harm the Gulf Coast environment in a number of ways. But scientists say it’s hard to predict how severe the damage will be. (Christina Koch/NASA via AP, File)

A Florida company plans on taking the balloon ride industry to new heights — literally.

Space Perspective, a Cape Canaveral-based startup, has announced it will take passengers on balloon rides to the “edge of outer space.”

Instead of a traditional basket, up to eight passengers will load into the company’s “Spaceship Neptune” pressurized capsule for a two-hour journey to an altitude of 100,000 feet. That’s above 99 percent of Earth’s atmosphere.

The balloon will cruise at the height for another two hours before another two-hour trip back to Earth, where it will splash down in the ocean, according to Space Perspective.

An unmanned test flight is scheduled to launch in early 2021. It’s unclear when Space Perspective hopes to begin accepting reservations.

Would you go on this trip?