CNBC Squawk on the Street: Reaching New Heights with World View CEO Ryan Hartman
World View president and CEO, Ryan Hartman, joined Morgan Brennan on CNBC's Manifest Space podcast to discuss World View's plans to go public via a SPAC merger with Leo Holdings Corp. II (NYSE: LHC). Ryan and Morgan discussed the opportunities afforded to companies and governments who conduct remote sensing operations from the stratosphere.
World View has been operating as a stratospheric ballooning company for about a decade, taking various payloads into the stratosphere. The company's primary objective is to inspire, create, and explore new perspectives for a radically improved future.
Stratospheric ballooning has been around for decades and involves using a large balloon envelope that uses either helium or hydrogen lift gas to take large payloads to the edge of space, usually about 100,000 feet.
The physics of stratospheric ballooning enables balloons to be manufactured to the size of the payload they carry.
The technology is ideal for remote sensing applications, and World View has several customers, including the US Department of Defense and foreign governments. The company's current focus is on maturing its remote sensing business, creating a platform that generates value for customers through the data it collects.
Additionally, the company has its sights set on space tourism in the future. World View's stratospheric balloons are navigable in the stratosphere, allowing the company to conduct "station keeping," enabling it to monitor an area for a long time, producing high-quality imagery and providing unique and useful insights.
