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Recently there's been news about a company who will be offering balloon rides to the stratosphere for $125,000 (USD). Blue Origin hasn't announced the ticket prices for their flights yet, but the first passenger ticket auctioned off at $28 million, so the consumer price will presumably be similarly expensive.

Going to space sound great, but those prices are not attainable for the average traveler. However, I'd still be interested to know how close I actually can get to space on a tourist ticket. What's the highest I can fly for tickets less than $1,000 USD? How about less than $10,000?

David K
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2 Answers2

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While not under your $10k limit, I'd nominate the Edge of Space Jet Flight in Russia which advertises that for €17500 you get:

Probably the mightiest experience in the world: The Edge of Space flight in the MiG-29 Fulcrum. Depending on weather and temperature conditions, you can reach up to 20-22km altitude, though at least 17km is guaranteed. Only astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS will fly higher at this point.

You can clearly see the curvature of the earth. The atmosphere looks like a blue fog, covering the earth far below. Above you, the sky turns very dark, sprinkled with innumerous stars. An incredible view which only a few people were able to enjoy so far!

However they say that this flight is currently not available and that there is a waiting list.

Peter M
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Virgin Galactic received approval to carry passengers from the FAA recently, although they are probably some way away from selling tickets.

For a long time the highest-altitude relatively mainstream option was the Concorde, which cruised at around 56,000 ft/17.1 km on transatlantic flights; the vast majority of conventional aircraft fly transatlantic between about 29,000 and 41,000 ft for comparison. This is rather considerably short of outer space, conventionally defined as 100 km (328,084 ft), but high enough for the sky to darken and to see the curvature of the earth.

The Concorde was forced into retirement in 2003, but various large business jets like the Citation X+ and LearJet 75 are advertised with a maximum altitude of 51,000 ft, and the view from 50,000 ft is still pretty cool. They don't normally operate at this altitude of course, so it would take some legwork to charter, but it's something definitely in the realm of possibility for a resourceful person in an advanced economy.

choster
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