What the business is
Florida space-tourism startup selling six-hour balloon flights to the stratosphere at $125,000 a seat
The bet
A skeleton team can keep the balloon-based space tourism company alive until new financing arrives to bring staff back
Starting capital
About $100M raised in total, including an undisclosed investment from Richard Branson
How it started
Space Perspective, based in Titusville, Florida, planned to fly people to the stratosphere in a balloon-like capsule. By July 2023 it had sold over 1,600 seats at $125,000 for a six-hour trip, worth $200 million.
What happened
In September 2024 it completed an uncrewed test flight of its Spaceship Neptune capsule to 100,000 feet. In October it announced Richard Branson as a copilot on its first crewed flight, saying it was entering its next phase of growth. In early December the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority gave notice to pay overdue rent or risk losing its leases.
How it ended up
The company furloughed nearly its entire 140-person workforce temporarily, telling Bloomberg it was preparing for a round of funding. CEO Michael Savage said it was not shut down, with a skeleton team working to bring the broader team back as soon as financing arrived.
What has to be true
Cash constraints left about $90,000 of rent unpaid
The airport authority threatened to cancel its leases
The company said it was preparing a financing round and needed to cut costs until then
Space tourism is described by the CEO as high-risk, high-reward
What can be applied
Pre-selling $200M of tickets did not cover running costs; furloughs reveal how much the company depended on new funding to keep flying tests.
Aftermath
As of 2025-01-24 most of the 140 staff were furloughed pending funding, a skeleton team remained and test flights continued. The company did not respond to Fortune's request for comment.
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