Ryan M. Hartman: Stratospheric tourism visionary

September 1, 2022

Ryan Hartman, CEO of World View, aims to offer regular passenger flights to the stratosphere via stratospheric balloons by 2024. World View has raised $120m to fund test flights with eight-passenger capsules starting later this year.

The company plans to make its six-to-eight hour balloon flights part of a multi-day experience in which passengers spend several days touring famous sites such as the Grand Canyon before boarding the balloon for aerial views of these natural wonders. By doing so, the company aims to sell something that is truly a life-changing experience instead of a thrill. The seven launch locations chosen by the company were selected for the purpose of inspiring, creating and exploring new perspectives for a radically improved future, and are the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, the Giza pyramids, the Serengeti, the Amazon jungle, the aurora borealis in northern Norway and the Great Wall of China.

Hartman believes that experiencing the overview effect, a powerful shift in perspective astronauts experience when they view Earth from space, can be delivered to the public by allowing them to view something they have seen or experienced up close. Each flight has eight customer seats with two crew, a pilot and a concierge, and is offered as a five-day experience with a hotel, restaurant, virtual reality experience, and local tours at each location. Each trip lasts six to eight hours and up to 10 hours depending on weather conditions during flight or in the landing zone.

The company's stratospheric balloon flight will take passengers to an apogee of about 100,000 feet before they are guided through the experience, with the pilot on board helping them understand what they're seeing. The passenger training will be more like an orientation to help them understand the experience they will have.

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