The Promise and Challenges of Space Tourism

On a lovely spring evening in New York City, the Goldberg brothers found themselves at an event contemplating the idea of traveling to space. After enjoying a few cocktails and in high spirits, they relaxed on the fifth floor of the private club Zero Bond, where the idea became increasingly appealing. "Seeing the world from above is quite fascinating," Eric Goldberg remarked. "I definitely see the attraction," Mike added. "Going to space is incredibly cool. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but you can visit many places on Earth—not everyone gets to experience space."

However, it wasn’t merely the exclusivity of space travel that captivated them. The true draw lay in the potential for transcendence. As if recounting a psychedelic experience, the language used by astronauts and explorers to describe their journey beyond the atmosphere evokes an encounter with the sublime. "I floated from my seat to the window, and there was Africa emerging over the horizon," former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman recounted in a phone conversation a few weeks after the Zero Bond gathering. "I witnessed the Earth's curvature and the delicate blue line of the atmosphere. Looking back at our planet from a lifeless environment made me truly appreciate its beauty," he reflected.

What Hoffman experienced is known as the Overview Effect, a phenomenon documented by astronauts who describe an overwhelming sense of wonder or divine insight upon leaving the planet and gazing back: a rock spinning through the cosmos, enveloped by its protective layer of breathable air—the combined efforts of life sustaining life.

This kind of cognitive transformation has become a central marketing strategy in the booming space tourism sector, led by companies established by Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, along with a growing number of smaller firms offering unique space adventures. “Will departing from Earth deepen your connection to it?” poses a Virgin Galactic ad. Blue Origin asserts on its site that the view of Earth from space is “life-altering.” SpaceX quotes the late NASA astronaut Sally Ride, who remarked that her perspective from above made her realize the fragility of human life.

These three companies, founded by visionaries with aspirations that extend well beyond brief commercial flights for tourists, have already taken dozens of individuals to space in recent years, leading what is projected to become a $3 billion industry within the next decade. In September 2021, the first all-civilian mission launched into orbit, followed by a self-funded trip to the International Space Station (ISS) by a Japanese billionaire; he has also commissioned SpaceX for the first civilian moon mission, set for 2023. Earlier this year, in April, a group of affluent businessmen traveled to the ISS on a mission organized by SpaceX and another company, Axiom Space. Based on public ticket prices, the average cost for these trips to the ISS exceeds $50 million per passenger, making it one of the most exclusive journeys available.

For those seeking the Overview Effect at a lower cost, suborbital flights are a viable option. (Orbital flights, such as those to the ISS, achieve speeds that allow them to escape Earth's gravity and orbit; suborbital flights, like those offered by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, reach space briefly before descending back to Earth.) However, the Goldbergs were at Zero Bond to explore a third option, created by two original members of the eight-person crew that lived in Biosphere 2, a groundbreaking 1990s initiative aimed at advancing space travel by constructing a closed ecological system in the Arizona desert.

Space Perspective, co-founded in 2019 by the husband-and-wife team Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, plans to offer flights in a capsule attached to a hydrogen balloon, set to launch in 2024. This balloon will rise to an altitude of 20 miles above the Earth, falling short of the 62-mile-high Kármán line, which the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale recognizes as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space. However, it will be high enough to glimpse a partial curvature of the Earth, as its horizon begins to show its spherical shape. It is promoted as the first luxury spaceflight experience. The plush leather seating, gentle lighting, and impeccably courteous bartender at Zero Bond were intentional—they hinted at the kind of journey Space Perspective aims to provide. This vision of space travel is not merely a harsh venture into an unwelcoming void, but rather a kind of transcendent cocktail party in the sky.

As a carbon-neutral company that minimizes its reliance on fossil fuels compared to traditional rocket launches, Space Perspective offers a solution to the ethical dilemmas often tied to space tourism. A rocket launch can consume 11,000 gallons of fossil fuel every second during liftoff, with space shuttles taking about eight and a half minutes to reach orbit. Given the environmental impact and the exorbitant ticket prices—set against the backdrop of global climate crises and the erosion of basic social safety nets—some of the civilians paying millions to embark on rocket journeys over the past year appear to be out of touch, rather than seekers of sublime experiences. To observers like the Goldbergs, these space tourists seem less like spiritual adventurers on a noble quest and more akin to a modern-day Orpheus, who, in seeking validation from the most breathtaking sight, ultimately condemns himself to lose it forever.

Jane Poynter, 60, remains convinced of the transformative potential of sending civilians into space, even as she attempts a different approach. Before her event at Zero Bond, I met her at the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Instead of observing planetary simulations, we sat on a bench in dim light, speaking in slightly too loud voices for a museum about the desire to explore space. At 29, Poynter spent two years inside Biosphere 2, testing whether the ecosystem she and her team had built, funded by a Texas oil tycoon's nephew, could support human life. The endeavor was challenging and ambitious, but Poynter and her crew persevered through hunger and oxygen shortages.

During her time in Biosphere 2, Poynter co-founded Paragon Space Development Corporation with MacCallum and another partner, Grant Anderson. This trio and their team developed life support systems and other technologies for NASA, and they also provided guidance to Elon Musk during the establishment of SpaceX. In 2011, they were approached by Google engineer Alan Eustace, who aimed to set the record for the highest skydive. Collaborating with two other teams, they created a space suit to eliminate the need for a pressurized capsule—which is typically used by high-altitude skydivers for their ascent—and successfully sent Eustace to a record-breaking altitude of 135,890 feet using a simple yet effective technology: a balloon.

This idea led to the creation of World View, a company co-founded by Poynter and MacCallum, which aimed to offer balloon trips to the edge of space. Although those journeys never came to fruition, Poynter and MacCallum departed from World View and launched Space Perspective three years ago. Poynter envisions her company’s mission as aligning with other space endeavors: to make space travel more accessible to a broader audience, whether for the Overview Effect, the exclusivity of the experience, the fulfillment of astronaut dreams, or simply to participate in a venture that feels futuristic. “Think of space travel this way,” she explained. “In its early days, aviation was reserved for the wealthy and governments. Now, it plays a crucial role in our daily lives—connecting families, facilitating deliveries. The same will happen with space travel.”

Utilizing balloons to achieve such altitudes is not a new concept. Aeronauts—the balloon explorers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries—became legends or met their demise as they ventured to heights previously uncharted. In 1862, two British aeronauts reached an astounding 37,000 feet, the upper limit of a modern airplane's cruising altitude, aiding in atmospheric studies. MacCallum’s father, an astrophysicist, employed balloons to launch telescopes into the upper atmosphere, inspiring MacCallum and Poynter to use similar technology for Eustace’s flight and later for Space Perspective. Today, balloons are commonly used without passengers for meteorological research and to examine the impact of radiation on equipment and astronauts. NASA has maintained a ballooning office for over 30 years.

A key point for Space Perspective is that the rich history of ballooning and the regular use of research balloons for scientific purposes demonstrate that this technology is well-established and safe for space travel. Many research balloons utilize light gases like hydrogen and helium, featuring openings at the bottom to allow excess gas to escape, enabling them to achieve greater heights than traditional hot-air balloons. These research balloons can ascend approximately 22 miles above Earth, inflating to the size of a football stadium, sufficient to contain the Statue of Liberty. The Space Perspective balloons will operate similarly—primarily using hydrogen, due to a global helium shortage—to lift their passenger capsules. (Though hydrogen also fueled the notorious Hindenburg airship, Poynter emphasizes that it was not a balloon.) Since the flights will not reach zero gravity, passengers won’t require specialized training or equipment like helmets or oxygen masks, allowing them to move freely within the capsule after takeoff.

High-altitude ballooning is still a novel concept in passenger travel, and a test flight for World View faced a setback in 2017 when a balloon exploded during liftoff (luckily, no serious injuries occurred). Poynter is confident in the safety of the method, which incorporates multiple redundancies. Space Perspective is not alone in this endeavor; it competes with companies like World View and EOS-X Space, a European ballooning venture. The experience is designed to be the opposite of intimidating: Passengers will gradually ascend for two hours, enjoy another two hours hovering over Florida and the Bahamas (with views of the thin blue atmosphere and the Atlantic waters), followed by a two-hour descent, ultimately splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. “We’ve grown accustomed to associating space travel with high g-forces, space suits, and sterile capsule interiors, and we thought, ‘Forget all that,’” Poynter shared with the audience at Zero Bond. “This technology allows us to provide a beautifully gentle flight. You ascend into space at just 12 miles an hour; it’s silent at launch. It’s a graceful experience.”

Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Poynter and her team have designed a 200-square-foot vessel—already tested on unmanned flights—to embody a new vision of space travel, featuring adjustable seating that faces nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. Renderings showcase tropical plants and small herb gardens among plush lounge chairs equipped with drink trays. Martini shakers rest beside buckets of chilling champagne.

Months ahead of their second fundraising round, which raised $17 million last May after an initial $40 million, Space Perspective announced that Miami restaurateur David Grutman would assist in enhancing their hospitality experience. Poynter envisions each flight as tailored to the preferences of the eight passengers aboard, with personalized menus, music, and lighting. Priced at $125,000 per ticket for a six-hour journey, the fare targets a specific clientele, yet it remains considerably lower than options with Blue Origin or SpaceX. Although few attendees at the Zero Bond event committed to Space Perspective that night, the excitement is palpable: as of August 2022, nearly 900 tickets have been sold. Poynter and MacCallum soon discovered that half of the tickets sold were to groups renting the entire capsule, highlighting a desire for shared experiences as they venture toward outer space.

The significant venture of space travel prompts the question of whether its profound insights can justify the environmental costs incurred. There is no definitive data on how many who experience the Overview Effect become ardent environmentalists, nor is it evident if a lifetime of eco-consciousness can counterbalance the emissions from certain spaceflights. This isn't the main focus for astronauts who are gathering information to enhance humanity’s comprehension of the cosmos. However, for the increasing number of tourist-oriented space trips, the significance of these journeys is often measured by personal and existential growth.

Dr. Deana Weibel, a cultural anthropologist and professor at Michigan’s Grand Valley State University, has researched the impact of space travel and its often spiritual descriptions. She notes that those drawn to space exploration frequently view their lives as part of a larger purpose. For many of these space enthusiasts, the term ‘tourism’ may not adequately reflect what could be more accurately described as a pilgrimage.

“In Islam, Christianity, and to some extent Judaism, there exists a connection between divinity and the heavens, often involving concepts such as angels above us,” Weibel explained during our phone conversation in mid-July. “There is a notion of a vast power, whether framed in religious or astronomical terms, that resides above. Perhaps understanding it better is possible by experiencing it firsthand.”

Notably, actor William Shatner remarked to Jeff Bezos after his Blue Origin flight that witnessing space felt akin to confronting death. “There’s the blue below and the black above... Is that what death resembles?” Shatner pondered. Observing the thin layer of atmosphere that protects life on Earth against the immense cosmos, he was profoundly affected by how delicate this barrier is, separating human existence from nonexistence.

Should space tourism succeed, its form will significantly influence the future of life on Earth. Space Perspective and other ballooning initiatives, along with companies like Blue Origin utilizing alternative fuels and VR startups aiming to replicate the Overview Effect without any travel, seem to strike a balance between recognizing the impacts of space travel and making extraordinary experiences accessible.

Poynter feels she encountered this awe during her two years at Biosphere 2. "We had an extraordinary opportunity to truly grasp what it means to live in a limited environment," she shared. "We could see the boundaries of our world while sharing the same oxygen. Our CO2 nourished the surrounding plants... It was a remarkable chemical interplay that was deeply rooted in our biosphere."

In her Space Perspective presentation, Poynter frequently refers to this realization, highlighting the transformative shift in her own life, which, while terrestrial, was profound. It may resonate deeply for travelers 20 miles above the Earth, yet Poynter discovered it on Earth, too—just 30 miles from Tucson, Arizona, down a winding road in the Sonoran Desert, beneath jagged mountains that turn purple at sunset, igniting the sky in fiery hues.