Mercedes-Maybach Planning Luxury Balloon Trips to “Space”

With rich people now wealthier than ever before, they need ways of spending that money that are novel, effective, and allow them to flex on their peers. One of the preferred ways of doing this in the modern era is by taking trips beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s something SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and Boeing have been working on. But they’re about to get some new competition from Mercedes-Benz.

The luxury-minded automaker is partnering with Space Perspective to create “carbon neutral” voyages 100,000 feet into the sky. Though Mercedes’ role in the endeavor isn’t entirely clear beyond offering lavishly appointed Maybach vehicles as shuttles to the launchpad and what’s happening isn’t exactly spaceflight. 

The pressurized capsule, called Spaceship Neptune, is attached to a giant balloon, named the SpaceBalloon, and only takes occupants about half the distance required to officially be in what the military or NASA would consider outer space. As the balloon also won’t be accelerating to a point that achieves a free-fall orbit, gravity will be experienced more-or-less the same as on the ground. But it will undoubtedly offer an other-worldly view of the planet below — even if you end up having to spend some of that time using the bathroom — thanks to some of the “largest windows ever flown to space.”

Customers will also be given a world-class meal, cocktail service, and Wi-Fi, while on board the customizable cabin that accommodates eight “explorers” and one Captain. It'll presumably be a longer, more tranquil experience than what's offered by the likes of Virgin Galactic and at a much lower price.

Our guess is that Maybach will have some hand in outfitting the vehicle’s interior once it’s been decided what options are feasible by engineers. The automaker has said that Space Perspective and the Mercedes-Maybach design team are currently in talks on “integrations of additional elements from the Maybach experience and brand.”

In the meantime, Mercedes has promised to provide all-electric Maybach vehicles to shuttle “explorers” and their guests to and from the various Space Perspective facilities (near the Kennedy Space Center), any local activities they’ll be participating in, and the launch site on Florida's Space Coast. 

"Our partnership with Space Perspective will allow space explorers to ride in style on the ground, and for us to extend the highest level of Maybach refinement and brand experience to the edge of space,” stated Daniel Lescow, Head of Mercedes-Maybach. 

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the Maybach brand has had a hand in ballooning. Back when zeppelins were all the rage, Maybach Motorenbau GmbH manufactured engines for some of the world’s largest airships. However, the company doesn’t appear to be offering any engineering expertise roughly a century later. It’s leaving that work to Space Perspective.

The company says that there are over 1,600 tickets booked for balloon rides to the edge of space thus far. They cost $125,000 per person with the first flights planned to commence late next year.

[Images: Mercedes; Space Perspectives]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.