World View Enterprises

The Stratollite[1] is a remotely operated, navigable, un-crewed stratospheric flight vehicle designed and engineered to station-keep over customer-specified areas of interest for long periods of time (days, weeks, and months). The Stratollite uses proprietary altitude control technology to rise and lower in the stratosphere, harnessing the natural currents of varying stratospheric winds to provide point-to-point navigation and loitering. The Stratollite operates at altitudes up to 95,000 ft. (30 km) with a payload capacity of 50 kg and 250W of continuous power to payloads. The Stratollite is primarily used for applications including remote sensing, communications, and weather.[2]

The Stratollite consists of a high-altitude balloon which lofts up a large solar panel and a payload gondola. The Stratollite also has a steerable parachute for soft return to ground after mission, enabling payload recovery. The main innovation of the Stratollite is its steerability enabling point-to-point navigation and persistent flight over selected area. The Stratollite relies on the natural winds in the atmosphere for its propulsion; it steerability is based on its ability to control its altitude, thus harnessing winds of different directions, enabling the Stratollite to move in the direction it wants to.[3]

World view also offer traditional, uncontrolled high-altitude balloon flights (which just drift freely, without any control of direction of travel, in the winds of the high atmosphere) with their so-called Z-Class flight vehicle. The Z-Class vehicle has much larger payload capability and higher operating altitude compared to the Stratollite. The Z-Class flight vehicle also offers a possibility for payload recovery.[3]

World View has conducted Z-Class flights for NASA's Flight Opportunities Program (FOP), for example on March 29, 2018 when two NASA radiation detection experiments, Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety (ARMAS) and a chip-based radiation sensor were flown out of Spaceport Tucson.[4]

The Voyager human spaceflight experience is under development with the goal of carrying private individuals to approximately 100,000 ft (30.48 km) above Earth inside a pressurized spacecraft lofted by a helium-filled high-altitude balloon. The flight vehicle will carry six passengers and two crew on an approximately five hour flight (from liftoff to touchdown). The flight will land under a parachute, having released the balloon at an altitude. The flight experience is intended to give passengers a wide-angle and long-duration view of the curvature of the Earth against the blackness of space. The pressurized spacecraft is planned to be outfitted with a restroom, minibar, and communications capabilities for communicating with family and friends below in real-time.[5] Tickets are being offered for $75,000 with a $7,500 deposit.[6]

As of December 2019, World View sees the first flights taking place "in few short years". However, precise date for the first flight is not announced. The technology and systems testing is on-going, with the company stating that the "most recent major test flight taking place in June of 2014" when a 10% scale model was flown into stratosphere and successfully recovered, demonstrating the targeted flight profile.[7]

World View (usually; a stratospheric balloon can be launched basically anywhere on Earth) launches its stratospheric balloons from a facility called Spaceport Tucson, a purpose-built facility for stratospheric ballooning. The spaceport and the headquarters of World View are located in Tucson, Arizona. The spaceport is owned by Pima county (where the spaceport is located) and operated by World View. World View is the anchor tenant of the spaceport with a 20-year lease contract.[8] The spaceport in practice consists of a circular (200 meter diameter) concrete launch pad for stratospheric balloons, and the World View facility located at the edge of said launch pad. The Pima county used $15 million to build Spaceport Tucson. The county officials approved construction of the spaceport 19 January 2016.[9] First launch for the spaceport took place 30 September 2017.[10]

Although branded a spaceport, no actual spaceflight, orbital or suborbital, takes place or is planned to take place at Spaceport Tucson. Spaceport Tucson is (and was planned to be) a high-altitude ballooning facility.

During a test flight in June 2014 World View successfully deployed and remotely navigated a parafoil back down to Earth from an altitude of 50,000 feet.[11]

An October 2015 test flight brought a 10-percent scale passenger capsule to over 100,000 feet altitude; a full-scale test is anticipated to follow.[12]

A September 2016 flight carried a small, uncrewed, scientific payload to an altitude of over 100,000 feet on behalf of the Southwest Research Institute through NASA's Flight Opportunities Program.[13]

By January, 2016, World View was planning to operate commercial flights from Spaceport Tucson beginning in 2017.[14]

In April, 2016, World View announced that, following $7 million in "Series A" financing, it had raised an additional $15 million in "Series B" funding.[15]

In June, 2017, World View completed a 17-hour flight featuring a KFC product; though a balloon leak cut it short from the intended 4-day duration, it was World View's first flight in which a solar array was "properly pointing at the sun."[16][17]

In July, 2017, World View completed a 27-hour flight.[17]

In October, 2017, World View completed a first flight from Tucson, Arizona, staying aloft for five days: the longest duration of any World View flight to date.[16][18]

On December 19, 2017, a balloon exploded causing tremors in the Tucson area that shook for over half a mile.[19]

In March, 2018, World View announced that it had raised an additional $26.5 million in "Series C" funding.[20]

Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter of World View Enterprises at the Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting, 19 January 2016

Jane Poynter, co-founder and CEO, was one of the original eight Biosphere 2 crew members. After two years inside Biosphere 2 (a three-acre, hermetically-sealed environment in the Arizona desert,) she went on to co-found Paragon Space Development Corporation, which designs and manufactures life support technologies rated for extreme environments, including outer space.[21] Paragon has supplied hardware to more than 70 spaceflight missions, including ones to the International Space Station and Mir.[22]

Taber MacCallum, co-founder and CTO, was also one of the original Biosphere 2 crew members and went on to co-found Paragon Space Development Corporation alongside Jane Poynter. Taber MacCallum was named Popular Science Inventor of the Year in 2008 for a toxic water diving suit that helps hazmat divers safely navigate contaminated waters.[23]

Alan Stern, co-founder and Chief Scientist, was appointed NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, essentially NASA's top-ranking official for science, in April 2007. In this position Stern directed a US$4.4 billion organization with 93 separate flight missions and a program of over 3,000 research grants.[24] He is also the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Chief Scientist at Moon Express.[25]

Mark Kelly, World View's Director of Flight Crew Operations, is a retired NASA Space Shuttle Commander and U.S. Navy Test Pilot. During his tenure with NASA, he piloted two Space Shuttle flights and commanded two others, including Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final mission.[26] As of 2018, Kelly is co-founder and strategic advisor.[27]

Ron Garan, Chief Pilot for robotic flight operations and upcoming human spaceflights, a retired NASA astronaut and fighter pilot.[28][29]

• Commercial Spaceflight Federation
• Inspiration Mars
• Paragon Space Development Corporation
• Zero2infinity, another near-space-balloon-tourism company