As toilets go, there won’t be many that can rival this one.
That’s because this loo offers quite the view — allowing users to savour the spectacular sight of the curvature of the Earth from the comfort of a space balloon.
Such is the lavatory’s luxuriousness – it features plants, plush seating and Wi-Fi for the ‘high-altitude bathroom selfie’ – that the company behind it has dubbed it ‘the world’s first space spa’.
Introducing the design, Florida-based Space Perspective wrote on X: ‘One of the first questions we get about our six-hour spaceflight is, “Um, how about … going to the bathroom?”
‘[This is] the ultimate retreat for our Explorers during their transformative journey to the edge of space.’
A bathroom break that’s out of this world: As toilets go, there won’t be many that can rival this one. That’s because this loo offers quite the view — allowing users to savour the spectacular sight of the curvature of the Earth from the comfort of a space balloon
Such is the lavatory’s luxuriousness – it features plants, plush seating and Wi-Fi for the ‘high-altitude bathroom selfie’ – that the firm behind it has dubbed it ‘the world’s first space spa’
Space Perspective is hoping to offer its first flight to the edge of space at the end of 2024.
The company has designed a sleek-looking capsule known as Spaceship Neptune which will offer panoramic views from an altitude of more than 100,000ft (32km) and extras that include a menu of cocktails, music playlist and reclining seats.
Up to eight passengers at a time will have the chance to enjoy a six-hour round trip for a price of $125,000 (£100,000) per ticket, equating to £277 a minute.
It will include two hours to soak up the curvature of the Earth, ‘the total blackness of space, and the thin blue line of our atmosphere’, Space Perspective has said.
This can be viewed through the ‘largest windows ever flown to space’, while the capsule will even have a high-speed Wi-Fi connection so passengers can ‘bring family and friends back on Earth along for the ride’.
But what separates Space Perspective from some of its rivals is the fact the company routinely seems to boast about its toilet’s ‘unbeatable view’.
In its latest promotional push, the firm said the bathroom will feature ‘soft, soothing color tones, living plants, stunning window vistas, high-end products, and unique soundscapes’.
It added: ‘Plush seating on the toilet lid means you can comfortably stay a while and enjoy a moment of solitude.
‘And because there’s Wi-Fi, you can even take a high-altitude bathroom selfie.’
Fancy: Introducing the design, Florida-based Space Perspective wrote on X: ‘One of the first questions we get about our six-hour spaceflight is, “Um, how about … going to the bathroom?”‘
Plan: Space Perspective is hoping to offer its first flight to the edge of space at the end of 2024
Futuristic: The company has designed a sleek-looking capsule known as Spaceship Neptune (pictured in an artist’s impression) which will offer panoramic views from an altitude of more than 100,000ft and extras that include a menu of cocktails, music playlist and reclining seats
Unlike Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which have all the flight turbulence one would expect from a rocket and a space plane, Space Perspective promises a somewhat calmer journey to the planet’s stratosphere.
It will take passengers to a height of 20 miles but they will not get to experience the weightlessness offered by Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.
As a comparison, the former takes its passengers to an altitude of 65 miles and the latter 50 miles.
Space Perspective’s spherical pod will be attached to a balloon launched from shipping vessels being converted into ‘floating spaceports’ off the Florida coast.
It is currently under construction near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with the aim to launch the first model to space by the end of next year.
THE SPACE TOURISM COMPANIES BATTLING IT OUT TO OFFER VIEWS OF THE EARTH FROM ABOVE
With missions to the International Space Station (ISS) now the norm and Elon Musk talking about going to Mars , it’s often hard to imagine that just 65 years ago no human had ever been to space.
For 300,000 years we walked the Earth but it wasn’t until 1961 that Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to escape the confines of our planet.
A ticket to space: If money was no object, what could you get from the different space tourism options on offer? From Virgin Galactic’s space plane and Jeff Bezos’ rocket, to stratospheric balloon ventures and trips to the ISS, MailOnline takes a look above
Now, five decades on, space tourism companies are springing up everywhere with promises to take ordinary people on adventures to the stars.
Yes, the vast majority have exorbitant ticket prices that make bagging a seat only attainable to the super rich, but as the industry develops the hope is they will gradually come down.
So who will win the race to offer regular commercial trips? And if money was no object, what could you get from the different options on offer?
From Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space plane and Jeff Bezos’ rocket, to stratospheric balloon ventures, trips to the ISS and orbital hotels, MailOnline takes a look here.
