Space travel with a Michelin meal…at what price?

Starting next year, news has emerged that you can enjoy a meal prepared by a Michelin-starred chef while traveling in space.

According to CNN, a French company, Zephalto, has launched a balloon called Celeste.

Zephalto is a new space travel company founded in 2016 by Vincent Farret D’Atiyes, a former French air traffic controller. Celeste is a balloon produced by Zephalto that flies up to the stratosphere, the threshold of space.

Celeste can accommodate up to eight people, including two pilots and six passengers. The balloon takes off from France and reaches an altitude of about 82,021 feet within approximately 90 minutes, traveling at a speed of 13 feet per second. After reaching this height, passengers can enjoy a gourmet course meal and French wine while flying in the stratosphere for about three hours.

In particular, a course meal prepared by a Michelin-starred chef and wine selected by a famous sommelier are provided, and passengers can also enjoy their desired music during the journey.

The total flight time is six hours, and passengers can enjoy the view through the window. Celeste has a window of about 75 square feet, which is the largest window size among existing space balloons.

Currently, Zephalto has set the cost of a space tourism ticket at 120,000 euros (approximately $136,000), and the pre-booking fee is 10,000 euros (approximately $11,000). The first flight is already fully booked, and they are preparing to sell pre-bookings for flights scheduled for mid-2025.

Zephalto announced that it had successfully completed three test flights of Celeste for safety.

There are no age restrictions or special training required to board the balloon, and anyone who can fly on a plane can board.

Meanwhile, Zephalto emphasizes that Celeste is much more ‘eco-friendly’ than SpaceX or Virgin Galactic. In fact, it is known that the carbon dioxide emitted when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is launched once is as much as 336 tons, equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted when 395 passenger planes cross the Atlantic.

On the other hand, Celeste emits only 26.6 kg of carbon per space flight, which is less than the amount of carbon dioxide produced when making a pair of pants.

Vincent Farret D’Atiyes, the founder of Zephalto and the test pilot of the balloon, said, “I am very happy to bridge the gap between dreams and reality of space travel,” and added, “After years of work on our approach, design, and technical solutions, we can provide an immersive experience on the stage of Earth and space.”

Meanwhile, Space Perspective, an American competitor of Zephalto, also plans to start balloon tourism from next year.