World View intends to use what it learns from Stratollite to launch people in another balloon-lifted craft called Voyager. "We will be flying people in the future but I'd like us to have 100 or more Stratollite flights under our belt first," Poynter said.Stratollite can fly commercial payloads the size of a small bus to 150,000 feet of altitude, making it possible to quickly and steadily provide services such as weather forecasting, military surveillance or disaster recovery.
Why do they have to say more than this?
Well, that's main stream media for you. Hyperbole, hyperbole, hyperbole. They do this for LauncherOne, which doesn't go a lot higher, as well. And basically for anything space-related. Or rather: for everything, full stop.
World View, which focuses on remote sensing and stratospheric surveillance, has agreed to go public through a merger with a blank-check firm, according to people with knowledge of the matter.The deal with Leo Holdings Corp. II is set to value the combined entity at about $350 million, which includes a potential $75 million private investment in public equity, or PIPE, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. A transaction could be announced as soon as Thursday, they said.
In October 2021, World View announced it would return to the tourism business, developing a balloon system and pressurized cabin to take up to 10 people to altitudes of about 30 kilometers for flights lasting 6 to 12 hours. The company says 1,200 people have reserved seats on those flights, with a ticket cost of $50,000, although the company has not disclosed how much revenue it has collected from those reservations.World View provided little financial information as part of the SPAC announcement. Unlike some similar deals involving space or space-adjacent companies, there was no conference call to discuss the merger, and they did not release an investor presentation with financial details or projections.
World View, the stratospheric ballooning company that announced plans to go public last month, is emphasizing remote sensing, and not tourism, as its primary market for the next several years.The company, which said Jan. 13 it would go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Leo Holdings Corp. II, filed an investor presentation with the Securities and Exchange Commission Feb. 3 that provided new information about its finances and business plans.In the presentation, the company described how it believed its balloon platform, called a “stratollite,” could compete against satellites and aerial platforms in providing high-resolution imagery for extended periods.
These balloons take nearly 500,000 m3 of helium each. Annual helium production in the USA is 57 million m3. if they get to more than ~10 flights per year, it'll have significant impact on helium supplies.
Helium production in the United States totaled 73 million cubic meters in 2014. The US was the world's largest helium producer, providing 40 percent of world supply.(Wikepedia)
World View expects both the number of flights and revenue to grow substantially in the next few years, reaching $89 million in revenue from 65 flights in 2025.
Quote from: Hobbes-22 on 01/13/2023 06:51 amThese balloons take nearly 500,000 m3 of helium each. Annual helium production in the USA is 57 million m3. if they get to more than ~10 flights per year, it'll have significant impact on helium supplies. butQuoteHelium production in the United States totaled 73 million cubic meters in 2014. The US was the world's largest helium producer, providing 40 percent of world supply.(Wikepedia)From the SpaceNews article:QuoteWorld View expects both the number of flights and revenue to grow substantially in the next few years, reaching $89 million in revenue from 65 flights in 2025.65*5E5 m^3= 3.3E7 m^3 = 45% of 73 million m^3 or just under half of the 2014 production in the US, and about 20% of the 2014 world production.Still a big chunk.Is this correct today?Is this economically practical?Is there no recovery of the helium?Isn't one of the balloons fixed while gas is bled into and pumped out of the variable other?