"Space Balloon" to Provide Thrilling Experience (but not quite to space)

­A Spanish startup and its “space balloon” are set to make their first test flight in September, writing the next chapter in space tourism. There’s just one problem – despite the startup’s name, Halo Space, their balloon won’t actually reach the legal definition of space…or anywhere close to it, really.

Space tourism has made significant strides in the last couple decades, starting with Dennis Tito, who flew aboard a Soyuz-TM32 in 2001, and over the next eight years, seven more space tourists flew aboard Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, which of course, is well above every legal definition of space.

For the uninitiated, one of the two generally-accepted definitions, the Kármán line, is about 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. That boundary is recognized by the international community, including the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

On the other hand, NASA and the U.S. military considers space at 50 miles (around 80 kilometers).

But while each ticket aboard Halo Space’s balloon will run a hefty €150,000, it’ll “only” ascend to the stratosphere, about 35 km up. That’s at least 45 km below any accepted definition of “space,” but that doesn’t stop the company from using the ‘s’ word fairly liberally.

The entire adventure takes four days, and the last one consists of “a five-hour flight during which our passengers will reach an altitude of 35 km. The capsule combines comfort, modern design, and advanced aerospace technology to deliver our passengers safely to the edge of space and back in style.” (emphasis mine)

The result is undoubtedly a thrilling experience – at the flight’s apogee, the “curvature of the Earth with its blue halo and the darkness of space” (aka, the “Overview Effect”) will apparently be visible.

But spending nearly $164,000 and you can’t even credibly say you’ve been to space? I’m not sure about that…

Halo Space is supposed to launch its first test flight in September alongside its partner (of all countries), Saudi Arabia. If all goes well, paid flights should start in 2026.