Forget Rockets. This Insane Space Balloon Will Start Flying Passengers Into the Heavens in 2024 - Robb Report

Space Perspective said that last Friday’s successful launch of its space balloon, Neptune One, shows that another type of space travel is possible.

Unlike the aircraft-like capsule of the other commercial space firms, Neptune One will be more like a lounge, complete with WiFi, toilet and bar, that floats at 12 mph into the stratosphere.

Space Perspective plans to launch three flights per year, first from the Space Coast Spaceport in Titusville, Florida, and then at other locations around the US, and eventually internationally.

The space balloon doesn’t go nearly as high as the other aircraft.

There, the tourist astronauts will experience weightlessness for several minutes, something that doesn’t happen on Space Perspective’s space balloon.

The space balloon and capsule will have a pilot, but can be controlled remotely.

Neptune One’s launch from the Space Coast Spaceport on Friday was the first for a space balloon