Space Perspective was once hailed as a pioneer of affordable space tourism.

The company, founded by married couple Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum in 2018, aimed to send paying customers to the edge of space using specially developed capsules anchored to stratospheric balloons.

Its luxury capsule, Spaceship Neptune, would slowly ascend into the sky, giving passengers an impressive view of Earth as well as the black expanse of space.

Fast forward seven years and Space Perspective has fallen on tough times. European company Eos X Space has acquired the firm, presenting a potential lifeline. First, though, it will have to entirely rethink its value proposition.

Eos X Space acquires Space Perspective

Only last year, Space Perspective was announcing fine dining experiences in space. The Florida-based company also performed a 100,000-foot-high (30,480 meters) flight test with its Spaceship Neptune test capsule, Excelsior, in September.

Warning signs started to show earlier this year, though. In January, Space Perspective furloughed almost its entire workforce due to a lack of funding. In April, the company was evicted from the Florida airport it called home, forcing it to cease operations.

Now, Spanish company Eos X Space has announced it has acquired Space Perspective. The two firms were competitors.

According to an Eos X Space statement, Space Perspective “will operate with full autonomy, under US leadership and corporate structure.”

The Madrid-based company was founded in 2020 and is developing its own balloon-based space tourism system. “This is a historic opportunity for two former rivals to join forces and make manned space tourism a reality,” explained Eos X Space Founder and CEO Kemel Kharbachi.

New lease of life for balloon space tourism?

For Space Perspective, the acquisition may give it a second chance to make its space tourism dream a reality. Meanwhile, Eos X Space sees the deal as a stepping stone to expanding its global footprint. In its statement, the firm said it will open two new facilities in the US. One will be a spaceport at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The other will be a research and development facility in Silicon Valley.

The Madrid-based company eventually aims to move its global operational headquarters to the US.

“This is not just a strategic acquisition; it is a declaration of our long-term vision,” Kharbachi continued. “We are building a scalable, ethical, and efficient space platform driven by innovation, purpose, and excellence.”

From their inception, Space Perspective, Eos X Space, and Barcelona-based Zero 2 Infinity have pitched their service as a sustainable form of space tourism. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic fly space tourists to suborbital space using a vertical rocket and a spaceplane, respectively.

Balloon-based space tourism also has the potential to allow more people to fly to the edge of space. Space Perspective previously announced it would charge $125,000 per seat. However, the aim was for that price to go down, making trips to the edge of space more affordable.

According to a Travel Weekly report, Space Perspective’s lawyers said the company was “reassessing the entire customer journey and value proposition before reopening official sales.” The company has a second chance, but it may have to entirely rethink the way it markets itself.