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Take A Balloon Journey To Space, Complete With Fine Dining!
If you’d like to experience spaceflight, but aren’t ready to jump aboard a rocket-powered or ultrasonic spaceship, why not take a more leisurely balloon option?
If you’re a millionaire looking to broaden your horizons, commercial spaceflight is undoubtedly one of the most popular ways to take travel experiences to new heights.
But what if you’re nervous about being strapped into a rocket-powered or ultrasonic spacecraft and looking for a more sedate journey into the stratosphere?
Luckily, a French company, Zephalto, has you covered with their $132,000 (AED 485,110)-balloon experience that floats gently to the 25km-high second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Well-heeled passengers will board the Céleste — Zephalto’s pressurized balloon capsule — at a spaceport in France. One hour later, space travelers will reach a peak altitude three times higher than the cruising height of commercial airliners.
When the capsule arrives at peak altitude, guests will stay in the stratosphere for around three hours, where they’ll be treated to two gourmet meals, aperitifs, wine tasting, and get the opportunity to take the most original high-altitude Instagram snaps.
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Although a niche and expensive pastime for the ultra-wealthy, space tourism is estimated to be worth $8 billion by 2030 — over ten times the current market size of 2023. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are now well established in the high-end travel sector, and SpaceX’s Elon Musk has recently proposed an even more radical excursion — a Moon loop flight aboard the company’s Starship craft.
Meanwhile, astronaut boot camps such as US-based Orbite now offer space training for as little as $15,000 (AED 55,088), while well-known commercial airline builders such as Airbus and Boeing are also competing for a slice of the space-tourist pie.
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Joby To Establish All-Electric Air Taxi Ecosystem Across The UAE
The comprehensive agreement with Abu Dhabi’s government includes a training program, infrastructure development, and a manufacturing presence.
All-electric aircraft company Joby Aviation has secured three separate agreements with departments of Abu Dhabi’s government that lay the groundwork to develop and scale air taxi services in the Emirate and beyond.
The deal was signed at the recent DRIFTx thought-leadership and exhibition platform and gave Joby exclusive rights to not only operate air taxi services in Dubai but also unlock inter-emirate services between Abu Dhabi.
Joe Ben Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, said: “Today’s agreement demonstrates the incredible momentum behind the adoption of clean flight across the UAE. We’re looking forward to delivering a fantastic experience for our future customers in Abu Dhabi and we’re excited to be unlocking the potential for zero-emissions flight between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We’re grateful for the support and collaboration of our governmental partners and the entire ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and we remain deeply impressed by their commitment to building out a world-class aviation ecosystem in the Emirate”.
Joby’s all-electric aircraft went on display for the first time in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina at the DRIFTx event. The air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers and can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour (321 km/h). The zero-emission craft is said to have an extremely low acoustic footprint and can travel a maximum of 100 miles (161 km) on a single charge.
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Once operational, Joby’s air taxi fleet would enable fast, clean travel across the UAE, with journeys between Abu Dhabi to Dubai taking just 30 minutes compared with two hours by car during peak times.
Joby continues to work closely with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to help the Emirates become a world leader in the introduction of air taxis. Additional testing and analysis will be required before inter-emirate travel becomes a reality, but the cutting-edge technology already appears to have great potential.
Joby To Establish All-Electric Air Taxi Ecosystem Across The UAE
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