Patent-Pending Capsule Design Unveiled by Space Perspective
A patent-pending capsule design has been unveiled by luxury space tourism company Space Perspective. The Spaceship Neptune capsule design is now in production at the company’s state-of-the-art campus, near its Operations Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"The team has come together to create an amazingly robust, safe, and incredibly elegant and luxurious system for Spaceship Neptune. Simplicity and automation are the keys to safety.”
Taber MacCallum, Founder, Co-CEO and CTO of Space Perspective.
As the only carbon neutral way to space, Space Perspective continues its pursuit of proprietary space travel innovation. Thousands of virtual flight tests, simulations, and analysis runs with cutting-edge technology from Siemens Digital Industries and AWS resulted in the pioneering capsule and splash cone designs. An elegant spherical exterior maximizes the 360-degree panoramic views via the largest-ever, patented windows to be taken to the edge of space and a roomier Space Lounge interior, offering plenty of headroom as Explorers move around the capsule. The proprietary splash cone ensures Spaceship Neptune’s ocean landing is gentle and safe.
Space Perspective says it is revolutionizing space travel - and is a world away from rocket-fueled space endeavors. Explorers onboard Spaceship Neptune, taking flight commercially from the end of 2024, will safely ascend to the edge of space in the climate-controlled, pressurized capsule, propelled by a patented SpaceBalloon, absorbing the phenomenal beauty of Earth from space. The six-hour round trip enables anybody who can board an airplane to soak in the beautiful views of the thin blue line circling earth below and the dark vastness of space above.
Space Perspective’s state-of-the-art composite capsule manufacturing facility, in conjunction with an in-depth series of parallel processed analyses and design iterations, led to Spaceship Neptune features such as:
An elegantly smooth, spherical pressure vessel designed for the ultimate Space Lounge experience and comfort. The iconic spherical shape of the exterior accommodates a roomier interior with more headroom, and the additional safety benefits of being optimal for pressure resistance.
An enhanced patent pending splash cone, refined from hundreds of digital iterations, to attenuate splashdown for a gentle and safe landing that improves customer experience and hydrodynamics. With water landings considered by NASA as the low risk way of returning a capsule from space, following the gradual, two-hour descent to Earth and a gentle splash down in the ocean, a Space Perspective crew will retrieve passengers, the capsule, and the SpaceBalloon by ship.1 2
Reflective coated windows and center section, similar to that of an astronaut’s helmet, will limit solar gain and keep the interior Space Lounge comfortable and cool.
A patent pending thermal control system to amplify comfort. The exterior of the capsule travels through a wide range of thermally dynamic environments and the system will keep the interiors and Space Explorers at a consistently comfortable temperature.
Spaceship Neptune’s patent-pending capsule design is the culmination of serial inventions in patented technologies aligned to space exploration and the phenomenal efforts of a world-class team in examining every aspect of the design and its function. The capsule seamlessly marries the singular demands of space travel in relation to pressure, temperature and structural engineering to the ultimate user experience.
“Centuries of balloon and parachute operation and development demonstrate that always flying with the balloon from launch through landing, with traditional parachutes as a reserve backup system, is by far the simplest, safest and most robust solution. Our proprietary flight system means that the capsule and SpaceBalloon always remain connected, and take-off and landing conditions are always within our control. The team has come together to create an amazingly robust, safe, and incredibly elegant and luxurious system for Spaceship Neptune. Simplicity and automation are the keys to safety,” said Taber MacCallum, Founder, Co-CEO and CTO of Space Perspective.
Manufacturing of Spaceship Neptune has already begun with 100,000 square feet of facilities, 300,000 square feet of dedicated testing apron area, and operations center at the NASA KSC Shuttle Landing Facility. With almost 900 tickets sold to date and the purchase of entire capsules for eight popular, commercial flights are targeted to begin in late 2024. Space Perspective is currently taking reservations for 2025 and beyond. Tickets are priced $125,000 per person, and bookings are made with a fully refundable deposit beginning at $1,000 (customers can also book and pay online via crypto - a first in the commercial space flight industry). Space Perspective’s human spaceflight launches are regulated by the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
(Images provided with Space Perspectives news release)