Earlier this month, Space Perspective unveiled MS Voyager, the world’s first Marine Spaceport for human spaceflight and the first in a planned fleet of this new class of spaceports globally.
Spaceports are sites for launching and receiving spacecraft. Now with the capacity to launch from marine-based sites around the world, in addition to launching from land on Florida’s Space Coast, Space Perspective becomes the first global space travel experience company, offering safe and sustainable journeys to the edge of space.
The name Voyager is an homage to the Voyager 1 Space Probe mission which, on astronomer Carl Sagan’s request, took a photo of Earth from across the solar system on 14 February 1990. That photo, now famously known as the Pale Blue Dot, inspired Sagan’s book of the same name and his call for humans to “preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known”.
Space Perspective will change your relationship with our planet by providing the quintessential astronaut experience of viewing Earth from the blackness of space.
Jane Poynter, Space Perspective Founder and Co-CEO
“It’s imperative for us to think about our business with a global mindset. Removing geographic borders for launch and landing accelerates our mission of making this transformative experience more accessible to the world and international marketplace – safely, reliably and with minimal impact on our planet”, said Jane Poynter, Space Perspective’s Founder and Co-CEO.
Plans are underway to integrate marine-based launches into marquee global events and conversations are active with several potential destinations across the globe to offer Explorers an awe-inspiring view of some of the world’s most iconic geography. “We always imagined offering the opportunity to view the most incredible natural phenomena from space, including the Northern Lights, the boot of Italy, the sheer scale of the Nile Delta, and the deep blue seas around the Bahamas. Marine Spaceports like MS Voyager make this a reality”, said Poynter.
Marine Spaceports create ideal launch conditions in two ways: by navigating to areas of good weather, which allows for year-round operations within a region, and by moving with the sea breeze, so there is virtually no wind across the deck. This enables more frequent launch opportunities, as well as more options for the time of day, including sunrise, sunset and nighttime stargazing flights.
“We’ve always believed in Space Perspective’s mission and the experience they are bringing to the world through human spaceflight. Unlocking the ability to scale globally with the addition of Marine Spaceports only strengthens the proposition and the power of the company to change people’s lives and the future of our planet,” said, Brandon Ross, General Partner of LightShed Ventures, a major Space Perspective investor.
Acquired from one of the world’s premier shipbuilders, Edison Chouest Offshore, MS Voyager’s marine operations will be supported by Guice Offshore. The 89-metre-long vessel, which will call Port Canaveral its home, is now being outfitted for launch, retrieval and Space Balloon operations at Conrad Shipyard. In keeping with Space Perspective’s environmentally conscious ethos, offsets will be provided by Cool Effects and the vessel itself is being retrofitted to use biofuel to reduce its carbon footprint.
MS Voyager will begin operations next year, aligned to Space Perspective’s planned test flights that commence in early 2023. Space Perspective has sold over 1,000 tickets to date, currently priced at $125,000 each.
