Helium balloon will take space tourists into the atmosphere - Telegraph.co.uk

Passengers will spend a few hours cruising silently above the earth before beginning their descent.

As the sail is slowly vented, the pod descends until the sail separates from the pod. A parachute is deployed to fly the pod back to earth.

The pod can be flown 40km in any direction to safely guide it to a predetermined landing site.

Spanish entrepreneur Jose Mariano Lopez-Urdiales came up with the idea while having a conversation with his astronomer father.

So far he has conducted five test flights, which have soared to a height of 33km - three times the height of an airplane's cruising height.

Jose, 33, from Barcelona, expects to fly the first mission with people aboard in 2013.

He said: "Going up into the earth's stratosphere in a balloon is a lot cheaper than doing it by rocket.

"You get to spend much more time high above and there is no engine noise.

"I first had the idea about 10 years ago and since then I've found people to finance the project and built prototypes.

"We've had several successful test flights and we're almost ready to send the first people up.

"I think there will be many people who will want to go on the trip.

"We plan to time each flight so that passengers will be able to see the sun dawning.

"It's not about the prestige, it's the view from up high that people want to see.

"It will be an unforgettable experience - people will be able to see stars during the day and the sun will look completely different.

"People will enjoy it because being that high reminds them they come from a planet, and are part of something much bigger.

"It brings up lots of feelings in people that we are all connected and we believe that's beneficial for the human experience."

Passengers will be given two days safety training and can even eat their favourite meal while aboard.

Scientific experiments will also be carried out, including measuring the atmosphere and levels of pollution.

Jose is in talks with authorities from several countries about where the balloon will be able to take off from, but says Spain is the most likely candidate due to its good, predictable weather.

During last year's World Cup he sent a Spanish national team shirt 33 kilometres up into the atmosphere to celebrate their qualification to the final.

To find out more visit www.inbloon.com.