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A Spanish firm has achieved a “major milestone’ in its race to fly thousands of tourists on trips to the edge of space. HALO Space completed the first successful test flight of an inflated balloon that will one day carry a manned capsule into space. It is hoping to offer commercial flights aboard a capsule attached to an inflated balloon by 2029, from which point it hopes to take up to 3,000 passengers on 400 trips every year.
Bringing that goal one step closer to reality, its unmanned balloon prototype flew for four hours and 10 minutes, as it floated 23 miles (37 kilometres) into the stratosphere before landing it safely in a designated area. The test flight took off from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) headquarters in Hyderabad, India. HALO’s CEO Carlos Mira said everything went smoothly.
He said: “Our goal for this first flight was to test our safety systems as well as our navigation and control system, which are two of the most critical parts of HALO’s flight program. Not only did they perform exactly as expected, we were also able to collect important data from the sensors, instruments and cameras onboard that will be used as we continue developing these systems and preparing for the next test flight in a few months.”
HALO’s CTO Alberto Castrillo said: “In this test flight we wanted to demonstrate that, even at the highest altitude of 37 kilometres, we could deploy it and land safely – and we are proud to report that we did it. We could not be more satisfied.
“We have demonstrated the viability of the operational concept we’ve been developing for the past two years. This is a major milestone that consolidates our leadership position in the Near Space tourism sector.”
While this may represent a huge breakthrough for space tourism, anyone wishing to jet up into space for a 360-degree view of Earth from the edge of the cosmos would have to fork out a staggering $200,000 (£160,000) or thereabouts.
And while HALO may have made a breakthrough, it is just one firm out of several that is looking to bring people on trips into space. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, for instance, has already taken humans into space on six occasions aboard its New Shepherd vehicle.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has also taken amateur astronauts to the cosmos in its Crew Dragon capsule, while Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has also made progress in this space. While the big firms have already started bringing humans to space, HALO Space is “very pleased” with the progress made in just one year.
Mr Mira said: “The team is very pleased with what we have achieved in this first year, but we are even more excited about where we are headed – taking thousands of passengers to the edge of space in a life-changing experience up to 40 kilometers above the Earth.”
Once up and running, those with pockets deep enough to buy a ticket will be able to see the curvature of the Earth for between four and six hours in a “mind-blowing” experience, according to HALO.
Each capsule will carry eight passengers at a time in addition to one pilot per trip. The capsule has panoramic windows that allow full 360-degree views of the Blue Planet at an altitude of up to 25 miles (40 kilometres).
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The firm has a second test pencilled in for the first half of 2023, which will take place in Seville, Spain. In this test, HALO will trial steering the aircraft during descent and landing using a parafoil.
Mr Castrillo said: “Our goal is to successfully launch our flight capsule, reaching an altitude of 35 km before descending, and finally landing and recovering the prototype. In the process, we will validate the flight simulation algorithms, test the communication between the capsule and the flight control, as well as collect thousands of data points from the sensors installed on the capsule.
HALO Space will start rolling out commercial trips after the tests, and is hoping to set up light bases across all corners of the globe. Founded in 2021, HALO Space was initially incubated by the consulting firm Arthur D. Little in its Breakthrough Incubator program.
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