World View hopes to finish full-scale testing in 2017, and start flying passengers in 2018 or 2019.
Source: GeekWire
Julia Calderone contributed reporting to this post.
They performed a successful test launch in the summer of 2014, lifting a much smaller, passenger-less version of the prototype to 120,000 feet.
The team also includes NASA-affiliated scientists like astronaut Mark Kelly, who serves as director of flight crew operations, and Alan Stern, the former head of science at NASA and principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto.
According to World View, the aerospace community considers high-altitude ballooning to be dependable and safe.
Source: World View
World View settled into new headquarters at Spaceport Tucson in February 2017. From there, it's developing a suite of such stratospheric balloon-launching endeavors.
Depending on the time of year, the distance between the launch and landing site could be anywhere from 0 to 300 miles. A private jet would return the passengers to the launch site after they land.
As the capsule starts to descend, the balloon would separate at about 50,000 feet and a ParaWing would glide the capsule down to the landing site.
Many astronauts report that seeing our planet from such a high perch makes everything that happens on Earth seem tiny and insignificant. Passengers would get to enjoy this view for about 2 hours.
Source: Tech Insider
They would also be able to see the curvature of the Earth, which sometimes elicits a cognitive shift in awareness called the "overview effect."
Source: Tech Insider
Once the helium completely fills the balloon, the package would stop ascending as it reached its target altitude — about 100,000 feet.
To put this into perspective, commercial jets fly at about 45,000 feet, and U2 spy planes speed at around 75,000 feet.
A giant helium-filled polyethylene balloon would loft the cabin into the sky until it's fully inflated.
The capsule would offer 360-degree views and internet access, so you could share photos in real-time. There'd even be a bathroom and a bar.
World View has bigger plans than sandwich launches. They eventually want to launch paying customer inside the Voyager: a Winnebago-sized capsule that would fly six passengers and two crew members.
Source: Popular Science.
The Stratollite is designed to "sail" on high-altitude winds for up to 12 hours, though KFC's flight will last four days.
Source: The Verge