World View

World View is a developer of near-space exploration technology, including uncrewed flight systems and human spaceflight systems. The company designs, manufactures, and operates stratospheric balloon flight technology and systems for a variety of customers and applications. The systems developed by World View are capable of flying various trajectories, from circumnavigating the Earth to persistence over a single location or area of interest for days, weeks, or months. These are developed to help science, defense, and commercial enterprises, allowing sustained measurements and monitoring capabilities.

World View is also developing tourism initiatives, in which individuals will be able to float to the stratosphere in a flight lasting about five to six hours and in a capsule with amenities including giant windows, a small bar, a bathroom, and Wi-Fi.

World View was founded in 2012 by aerospace and life support veterans Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, Alan Stern, and former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. The company is headquartered Tucson, Arizona, where it has a 135,000-square-foot building. World View claims it is the first building designed for developing stratospheric flight.

In January 2023, World View announced the company had entered into a definitive business agreement with Leo Holdings Corp II, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), to publicly list World View. The transaction values the combined company at an estimated $350 million, and upon closing the transaction, the combined company continues to operate as World View. The new capital is expected to be used to help World View expand its global remote sensing business and to continue to develop its space tourism business.

As a result of the transaction, World View is also expected to receive up to $121 million in gross prospects. Following the close of the transaction—which requires approval of the stockholders of World View and shareholders of Leo Holdings Corp II—Leo Holdings Corp II will take World View public, in a process that avoids the process of the intitial public offering. Part of the deal includes a partnership with New Vista Capital, and strategic agreements with Sierra Nevada Corporation, ScepterAir, and Infleqtion to continue to advance World View's remote sensing services.

Since founding, World View has been developing systems and technology for remote sensing and Earth observation from the stratosphere. This is achieved through the company's proprietary stratospheric balloon technology, which can deliver lower cost and lead time than satellites or other traditional aerial sources, according to World View.

World View's main technology in remote sensing is Stratollites. These are stratospheric balloons capable of flying five times closer to Earth than satellites, allowing them to capture clearer high-resolution imagery and persistently hover over a target area for months to provide a clear picture of changes over time. The Stratollites operate up to an altitude of 95,000 feet and can stay airborne for days, weeks, and months. They can offer 250W of power and a payload capacity of 50kg and try to combine the benefits of various platforms to deliver a mix of high-resolution, accurate, and persistent viewing of key targets.

In October 2019, World View, in a technology demonstration, had one of the Stratollite balloons have a continuous flight for thirty-two days, which, at the time, was double the balloon's previous duration and intended to demonstrate the ability for the Stratollite to meet potential customer needs. World View is trying to expand the potential market for the Stratollite balloons, specifically toward military applications, marketing them toward providing persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) for military services. Here, World View feels its Stratollite balloon has matured to a place where it can be a part of the force structure and allows military services to operationalize the stratosphere for layered ISR in an area of responsibility.

Beginning in 2021, World View announced its intent to begin developing an expansion of services that included the company's space tourism, where customers could get an edge-of-space experience. The initial announcement included a $500 deposit from interested individuals, which allowed them to reserve a seat. The final seat price was expected to be $50,000, a lower price than other civilian space tourism flights available at the time of the announcement. These flights are expected by 2024. The spaceport locations for the near-space tourism include the following:

• Grand Canyon, United States
• Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia
• Serengeti, Kenya
• Aurora Borealis, Norway
• Amazonia, Brazil
• Giza Pyramids, Egypt
• Great Wall of China, Mongolia

Flights are expected to transport eight participants and two crew members in a zero-pressure stratospheric balloon and a pressurized space capsule to 100,000 feet altitude, or nearly 23 miles into the stratosphere. Participants will rise from one of the spaceports to gently float in the atmosphere in an experience that is expected to last from six to twelve hours, during which they will rise four times higher than a commercial flight and experience the curvature of the Earth and the darkness of space.

The flight plan posted by World View shows an expected liftoff before dawn into a two-hour ascent until the passenger module reaches the peak altitude. The descent is gradual and expected to last around an hour, until parafoils deploy to guide the capsule to a landing zone where it uses landing systems to achieve a safe—and according to World View—gentle touchdown.

Exterior image of the space capsule prototype.

World View launched its spaceflight capsule prototype in 2022. The prototype showed a capsule shaped like a faceted hexagon with softened edges and a pearlescent white finish, thermal management properties, large elliptical windows listed as approximately 6.5 feet wide and 4.5 feet high, and a sky window on top of the capsule where passengers can have a sight line of the balloon and constellations.

World View Capsule prototype images.

The capsule is designed to be climate-controlled and pressurized, with an interior designed to maximize space, built to allow participants to move freely around the capsule. It includes ergonomic seating for eight passengers, with an additional pair for the crew. Amenities are expected to include a cocktail table, graphical user interface (GUI), central console, personal storage, beverage holder, onboard telescope, and streaming and mobile communication abilities.

World View has also mentioned the company is working to use recycled or re-use materials where possible to increase the sustainability of the modules.