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UAE residents may soon be able to travel to the edge of space from Dubai

A company is aiming to make space travel more affordable and accessible to everyone

Published: Wed 20 Nov 2024, 6:12 PM

Updated: Thu 21 Nov 2024, 2:39 PM

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Photo: File

Photo: File

A company that is aiming to make space travel more affordable is hoping to have a launch site in Dubai, which will give travellers the chance to see the Burj Khalifa from the edge of space. Representatives of Space Perspective explained the vision they have.

“Being able to launch over Palm Island and go up and see the burst wave underneath and see all these recognisable landmarks, this is one of the most beautiful areas we could launch from,” said Michael Savage, CEO of the company.

Roman Chiporukha, Co-Founder and CEO of SpaceVIP, a partner in this project later told Khaleej Times that the company was positive it could expand to this region. “We have seen a lot of interest from this region from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. When we find the right partner, we are hoping to start operations from here,” he said.

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Affordable and accessible

The company’s aim is to make space travel more affordable and accessible to everyone. “If you want to go up under propulsion on a rocket, it takes training, and you've got 6Gs on your chest,” said Roman. “We have a pressurised capsule that goes to the edge of space underneath a hydrogen balloon. You move at a whopping 12 miles an hour as you journey to the edge of space. And anyone who can ride on an average commercial airplane can ride a spaceship down to the moon.”

Priced at roughly Dh460,000, the company offers a six-hour ride. “It takes two hours to go up,” explained Michael. “The traveller gets two hours at the edge of space in a capsule with luxury seats, looking out from the largest windows ever flown to space, where they can enjoy a meal. There's a restroom, just in case. We call it balloon, with a view. And then you come down gently under the balloon.”

According to the company’s website, the Space Lounge can accommodate up to eight passengers and a captain at a time. Michael also explained how Roman worked to bring a Michelin-starred chef on board. “It helped us to launch the first Michelin star meal in space,” he said.

Interest

Roman said that the company has seen a lot of interest in partnerships as well as tickets. “So far, we've sold 1,800 tickets and we have 225 million dollars in backlog,” he said. “And some of them are your average middle class families, So it isn't just millionaires and billionaires that are buying these tickets. People are saving and making sure that they get the experience they want.”

He added that some people are taking it out of their savings accounts. “Many baby boomers who took that nest egg looked at their kids and said, hey you're not going to inherit $500,000 because mum and I are going to space. They purchased seats as a couple because they watched all of these rockets and the Discovery and all of these go up in the 80s and 90s.”

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