Virgin founder to co-pilot world's first balloon space flight
Space travel could soon look a whole lot different with US-based company Space Perspective set to launch the world's first balloon flight into the stratosphere.
The flight will be co-piloted by Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, who told Today he jumped at the chance to join the project when he first heard about it.
"I've been lucky enough to have flown a balloon across the Atlantic and the Pacific and over Mount Everest and down the Himalaya chain, so when I heard they were building this balloon to go 100,000 feet, very, very, very high, I just couldn't resist," he said.
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Space travel could soon look a whole lot different with US based company, Space Perspective, set to launch the world's first balloon flight into the stratosphere. Space Perspective / Supplied
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"And they've been good enough to let me co-pilot the first balloon, so I'm itching to go, it's going to be a very wonderful, exciting voyage."
While he is an avid balloonist, Sir Richard is no stranger to space travel either, having been a passenger on the Virgin Galactic spacecraft in 2021, an experience he calls "the best day of my life".
"This will be very different, on Virgin Galactic you go from zero to 2500 miles in eight seconds and you can unbuckle and float in space and look back at the Earth," he said.
"With this challenge, it's almost the opposite, you're taking off at zero to 10 miles an hour and it'll just be a beautiful contrast, but I love an adventure and I love being involved in the creation of companies where other people can have that adventure too."
The flight will be co-piloted by Virgin founder, Sir Richard Branson, who told Today he jumped at the chance to join the project when he first heard about it. Today
Tickets on the balloon will set you bck around $185,000. Space Perspective / Supplied
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Space Perspective's Taber MacCallum will co-pilot with Sir Richard and he told Today it's very exciting for everyone involved.
"It's really an extraordinary way to make this experience accessible to a lot of people and quite the honour to have a legendary balloonist co-pilot in Sir Richard," he said.
Space Perspective's first commercial flights are scheduled to take off in 2025, with a round trip expected to take about six hours.
Tickets will cost around $185,000 and the balloon will have refreshments, wifi and breathtaking views of planet Earth, according to the website.
Hear the full chat with Sir Richard and Taber in the video above
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