Space Perspective, a space tour operator that planned to use a high-altitude balloon to send people to the edge of space, appears to have ceased operations after being evicted from a Florida airport.
According to court records, the company owed $90,295 in unpaid rent to the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority, which oversees Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, where Space Perspective leased three properties, including a hangar. After failing to pay rent, the company was evicted in March.
Although Space Perspective's website remains operational and appears to still accept bookings, the company's telephone number has been disconnected and the company has not posted on its social media pages since December. Interim CEO Michael Savage did not respond to Travel Weekly inquiries.
The airport authority began eviction proceedings in Brevard County circuit court in January after the company failed to make payments last May.
"Space Perspective has an unfortunate history of making late rent payments and then partial payments to make up unpaid rent," wrote the airport authority's attorney Adam Bird in a Dec. 2 letter to Savage that was included in court documents.
Savage wrote in a March letter to the judge that "the company's financial position has not improved" and the company was working with the airport authority to vacate the premises "as efficiently as possible." A judge approved the eviction on March 20.
Space Perspective had travel agency deals
Travel agency consortium Signature Travel Network, which had a preferred-supplier deal with the company, has received no official communication from Space Perspective, said Heidi Podjavorsek, Signature's vice president of sales and marketing for land and specialty supplier partnerships. She said she has tried to reach Savage and Hunter Abramson, the head of strategic growth at Space Perspective, but has had no luck.
Podjavorsek said Signature heard from former Space Perspective representatives in January, who told Signature they had been laid off. Then, Signature saw news stories about the company failing to pay rent. That news paired with a lack of communication shook the consortium's confidence in the company.
Signature advised its members to alert clients who had paid deposits about concerns of the company's future. The consortium told members, "You need to disclose to your clients that Space Perspective is halting all development. That's what it looks like," Podjavorsek said.
Clients who paid the $1,000 deposit with a credit card could dispute the charge based upon the card's policies, but those who paid through a wire transfer have their deposits being held in escrow by Space Perspective. Signature is helping to facilitate the process of recouping deposits.
Luxury travel agency Global Travel Collection also had a preferred-supplier agreement with Space Perspective. GTC president Angie Licea said the agency secured four pods with 32 seats and paid the initial deposit. No client funds were transferred to Space Perspective, and no travelers lost money, she said.
"While we are saddened by the closure of Space Perspective, we are proud to have supported their early vision and efforts," Licea said, adding that Global Travel Collection remains committed to "seeking the next frontier in travel."
Space Perspective's unpaid bills
Space Perspective also is facing legal action from landlords at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral and an industrial property in Melbourne, Fla.
The company owes landlord Space Florida at least $4,284 in unpaid rent for use of a reusable launch vehicle hangar at Kennedy Space Center. The company also owes landlord North Dow at least $104,566 for industrial space. Both landlords began eviction proceedings in February in Brevard County.
The company sold seats on the Spaceship Neptune capsule for $125,000 per person and planned to send passengers 100,000 feet above the Earth in a balloon. Travelers would spend two hours ascending 100,000 feet, two hours floating at that height and then two hours descending. The balloon would land in an ocean.
Consumer flights were slated to begin last year but never got off the ground. The company said in an update on its website that it operated a successful test flight in September and planned to operate commercial flights in 2026.
Space Perspective previously told Travel Weekly that half of its reservations were for a full capsule, which the company said could accommodate eight passengers. The company said in 2023 that it had sold more than 1,600 seats.