Completes Full Flight Profile Of Uncrewed Neptune-Excelsior

Space Perspective, a space tourism company based in Titusville, Florida, announced the successful completion of a full flight profile of its Spaceship Neptune-Excelsior, the fully operational test vehicle that will take its passengers to space.

The flight launched from the Marine Spaceport Voyager off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida on September 15 and demonstrated the spacecraft’s key technologies.

These include the first-time use of the four-roller mechanism to raise the lift balloon. The capsule is the largest spaceflight capsule for carrying humans ever flown (except the  and has the largest windows of any space vehicle flown.

The Neptune spacecraft maintains cabin pressure and thermal regulation at altitude to ensure a safe and comfortable interior environment for space tourist passengers. The flight demonstrated the successful use of hydrogen lit gas with the Space Balloon manufactured in-house. The Space Balloon lifted the Neptune Capsule to a maximum altitude of about 100,000 feet, above 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere and demonstrating the viability of renewable lift gases.

The flight also validated proprietary software and communications systems used by Mission Control to manage the flight and retrieval process. Retrieval involved the use of a fast boat and crane, and on this flight worked flawlessly and facilitated a rapid and thorough post-flight inspection.

Jane Poynter, Founder of Space Perspective noted, "This flight successfully demonstrated the extraordinary accessibility of Spaceship Neptune's spaceflight experience with its gentle ascent, descent and splashdown, a critical step in opening space up to more people than ever before possible. Our advances in marine spaceport technology, spacecraft design, and flight safety are setting truly new standards for the future of space exploration."

FMI:  spaceperspective.com/