Space Tourism + Michelin Course Meal... Ticket Price is 170 Million Won

Luxury Course Meal Inside a Hot Air Balloon
Unique Travel Package Planned by 'Jepalto'
First Tour Ticket Price at 170 Million KRW

A unique travel package that allows you to enjoy spaceflight and gourmet cuisine by a Michelin-starred chef together has emerged in France, attracting attention.

Recently, CNN in the US spotlighted the 'space tourism product' planned by the French company Zephalto.

Zephalto, a space travel startup founded in 2016 by former French air traffic controller Vincent Pare Dathies, does not reach space via rockets like Elon Musk, Tesla CEO's SpaceX, or Richard Branson, Virgin CEO's Virgin Galactic.

Stratospheric flight balloon unveiled by space travel startup 'Jepalto'. [Image source=Jepalto]

Instead, Zephalto chose a large balloon. Named Celeste, this specially made balloon can fly up to the stratosphere, the lower boundary of Earth's orbit.

Celeste can carry a total of 8 people, including 2 pilots and 6 passengers. The flight balloon ascends at 4 meters per second, reaching an altitude of 25 km in about 90 minutes, then flies through the stratosphere for 3 hours, allowing passengers to enjoy the view of space.

For a comfortable space experience, Celeste's cabin is equipped with windows about 7 cubic meters in size. It is said to be the largest window among existing space flight balloons.

However, the most unique aspect of Celeste is that Michelin-starred chef cuisine is provided along with the space travel. During the 3-hour flight through the stratosphere, passengers can enjoy a gourmet course meal and French wine. The total flight time is 6 hours. Regarding this, the founder emphasized, "The course meals are prepared by Michelin-starred chefs, and the wines are carefully selected by renowned sommeliers."

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So, how much is the ticket price for the 6-hour space flight?

Currently, Zephalto has set the space tourism ticket price at 120,000 euros (approximately 173.41 million KRW), with a pre-booking fee of 10,000 euros (14.45 million KRW). Operations are scheduled to begin in 2024, and the first flight's pre-booking is already sold out. Zephalto is preparing for pre-booking sales of flights planned for mid-2025.

Meanwhile, Zephalto emphasizes that Celeste is much more 'eco-friendly' than SpaceX or Virgin Galactic. It is known that a single launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket emits 336 tons (t) of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the CO2 emitted by 395 passenger planes crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

In contrast, Celeste emits only 26.6 kg of carbon per space flight, which is even less CO2 than producing a pair of pants.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.