Nearly half the Americans dream of traveling to outer space.

But that means the other half doesn’t, according to a 2021 surveyValuePenguin (one of LendingTree’s financial search websites) Space travel is considered too risky by nearly 40% of respondents, with others concerned about the environmental impacts and cost.

According to companies, there will soon be an option to address those concerns. via high-altitude balloons.

In reality, the balloons rise less than half the distance to the technical definition of space, but that’s still nearly three times higher than most commercial flights travel — and high enough to see the Earth’s curvature.

Jane Poynter (CEO of at) said that balloons don’t sound like a rocket launch. Space PerspectiveThe company hopes to transport passengers into the stratosphere by 2024.

According to her, there is no need for training and the absence of “high Gs” face-contorting. Also, trips do not emit any carbon emissions.

Florida-based Poynter stated that the hydrogen-powered six-hour flights will be powered by hydrogen. The journeys are expected to last for approximately six hours.  

Hydrogen has been called the “The Future of Energy”fuel of the future” — a potential game-changing energy source that could alter the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.

CNBC Travel discovered that there was no consensus regarding safety after having conversations with field personnel.

Poynter is part of the team which helped former Google executives. Alan Eustace break the world freefall recordWhen he leapt from a stratospheric sphere balloon, he reached 26 miles above Earth.

While Eustace hung under a balloon wearing a spacesuit, Space Perspective’s passengers will travel via a pressurized capsuleShe said that the capsule can hold eight passengers and one pilot. It is supported by a parachute system, which she stated has been tested thousands of times.

“In all of the conversations that we have with people, safety is the first thing that comes up,” Poynter said during a video call from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. “This is truly the safe way of going to space.”

A report by the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health, obtained by CNBC under the Freedom of Information Act, stated that an on-site manager suspected “static electricity” ignited the hydrogen. According to the reportIt was a ground test that occurred while the balloon was being put inflated. The incident did not lead to any injuries.

An electrostatic discharge, i.e. A spark of static electricity is an electrostatic discharge. ignited flammable hydrogen gas is widely believed to have caused the Hindenburg airship disasterIn 1937.

Peter Washabaugh from the University of Michigan is an associate professor of aeronautical engineering.

“The outer covering of the vehicle was flammable. It is not clear what caught fire first — the covering or the hydrogen,” he said. “The craft was being operated aggressively during a storm… I would say it was operational negligence.”

Washabaugh claimed that hydrogen is safer thanks to technological developments.   

“Lots has changed in the last 100 years,” he said, noting that newer balloon materials “are specifically better at containing hydrogen.”

Robert Knotts, a former engineering officer with the U.K.’s Royal Air Force and current council member of England’s Airship Association, agreed.

He co-authored an article in the Royal Aeronautical Society, a professional body for the aerospace community, which stated: “Modern materials and sensors could make a hydrogen airship as safe as any helium airship.”

Mention hydrogen with either airships or balloons and “everybody’s mind goes back to the Hindenburg — that’s the picture they have,” he said, calling the incident a “major PR problem” for the gas.

Meanwhile, hydrogen is now used to power electric cars, while airliners (“God knows how many gallons of fuel are on board”) carry inherent fire risks too, he said.

In 2018, Poynter — World View’s CEO at the time — told CNBC that World View doesn’t use hydrogenIts balloon systems.

But her new company, Space Perspective, is now choosing to use it to join the rapidly growing hydrogen economyShe said,

“Helium is in very scarce supply and is needed by hospitals for tests for the very ill as well as to launch communication satellites and conduct important research,” she said. “With helium shortages already occurring, it is unsustainable to use helium for space tourism flights at scale.”

She added that hydrogen has also been shown to be extremely safe when used as a lift-gas.

Space Perspective’s decision is part of a larger movement to return to hydrogenJared Leidich is the chief technology officer of World View’s stratospheric-balot aerial imagery firm. Urban Sky.

“Hydrogen can absolutely be a safe gas,” he said, noting that there is “a ton” of precedent for using it in other regions of the world.

As to whether he would ride a balloon into his stratosphere: “Absolutely,” said Leidich. Are you using hydrogen or helium It wouldn’t matter, he said, noting that hydrogen can make aspects of the ride safer “because it’s a more efficient lift gas, the whole system can end up being smaller, which has some cascading benefits.”

He said he’s already booked a seat — and paid a $1,000 refundable deposit — for a Space Perspective flight.

Knotts also said that the choice of gas “wouldn’t bother me, quite frankly.”   

Some weren’t so certain.

Kim Strong, an atmospheric physicist and chair of the University of Toronto’s Department of Physics, told CNBC she’d “feel safer with a helium-filled balloon.”

But University of Michigan’s Washabaugh said he’s on the fence about riding in a stratospheric balloon.

“It would not matter if it was H2 or He,” he said in an email. “I’m just more fond of a powered vehicle.”

Brooklyn-based company that creates imagery from stratospheric ballasts Near Space Labs currently uses helium, but CEO Rema Matevosyan said it’s exploring using hydrogen in the future.   

“The advantages of hydrogen are there. All the issues with hydrogen are there as well, and everybody knows it,” she said. “It’s going to be a very complex transition … it’s going to take research … the demand for this will also drive some of the research.”

EOS-X SpaceMadrid’s based company for stratospheric balloons, called, plans to switch to space tourism from Europe and Asia.

“The first flight test this next quarter will be powered by helium,” said founder and chairman Kemel Kharbachi. But “our engineers and the development and innovation team are working with hydrogen so that we can be the first before 2024 to have this technology.” 

Other people are still sticking to helium.

Jose Mariano Lopez Urdiales was the founder and CEO for the Barcelona-based company of stratospheric balloons. Zero 2 Infinity, told CNBC his company’s space tourism balloon rides will use helium “of course.”

“Our investors and clients want to avoid at all costs these kinds of fireworks,” he said via email, referencing a YouTube video showing the World View ground test balloon explosion.

However, he did not rule out hydrogen being used in the future. His company might, after “a few thousands successful hydrogen flight”, then gradually introduce hydrogen to high-altitude crewed flights in a controlled manner.

Lars Kalnajs, a research scientist at the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, agreed, saying hydrogen use could be an uphill battle since stratospheric tourism is a new and unproven venture.

“Risk — or even the perception of risk — will be a significant hurdle,” he said, “at least until the safety of the overall system is very well proven.”

John Spencer was the president and founder of The Spencer Company. Space Tourism SocietyAccording to us, the stratospheric balloons make up part of our “space community.”

“As far as I am concerned, they are providing a space experience with their balloon flights — and one many more people can experience than those who will be willing to get into a rocket ship,” he said.

Spencer stated that he was a friend to Poynter, and MacCallum’s partner., and is interested in taking a balloon flight with their company.

“But I would rather see them use helium,” he said.