Travel to space by Bloon: PICTURES

The dawn of commercial flights to space is drawing nearer. While Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic service has been besieged by delays, Spanish company Zero2Infinity is soon to launch “near-space flights” on board a zero-emisson craft called Bloon.

A maximum of four passengers will join two pilots in the bloon cabin, which will be chained to a balloon filled with inert helium. Once fully inflated, the balloon will pull the cabin to an altitude of about 22 miles or 116,000 ft; passengers who reach that height will have risen above some 99.5 per cent of the mass of Earth’s atmosphere. 

From that vantage point, the privileged few on board will be able to enjoy views of the planet that stretch on for 900 miles. That would enable British travellers to admire the entirety of Britain, from Land’s End to John O’Groats. After about three hours, Bloon will descend slowly to ground level.

Bloon is currently being tested but flights are expected to launch at the end of this year or in early 2015. Places can be booked via the Bloon website, with individual trips costing €110,000 (£87,000).

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