Chinese company joins space tourism race with a “deep space” balloon

Until now, space tourism has been largely a venture based in the United States. Virgin Galactic, XCOR, Blue Origin, and World View have all announced various plans to fly would-be astronauts into space—or to the edge of space—from American soil. But now a Chinese-based company, KuangChi Science, wants to get into the game by launching balloons from Hangzhou, in eastern China.

China Daily reports that KuangChi will invest about $1.5 billion into development of futuristic experiences, including a “deep space tour that offers the experience of flying up to 24 kilometers above the ground, which is just beyond the border of outer space.” Technically, this might overstate the flight, as the generally accepted boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space is 100km, known as the Kármán line. Moreover “deep space” is generally considered by experts to lie beyond Earth orbit.

But pay no mind to the details. According to KuangChi’s website, the balloon experience aboard the “Traveller” capsule will “bring you on a comfortable near-space trip you have never experienced!” The Traveler vehicle is based on the same “airtight cabin design” as the Shenzhou V capsule (China’s first crewed mission, launched in 2003) to block cosmic rays. Moreover, the company says the design of the vehicle will ensure the comfort of passengers, “enabling them to feel like sitting in a limousine car.”

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Source: Ars Technica – Chinese company joins space tourism race with a “deep space” balloon