Adventure travellers not content with exploring all that Earth has to offer can now reserve a spot on a space flight set to take off in 2024.
Space Perspective, a Florida company that calls itself the world’s first luxury spaceflight experience, has opened sales for tickets on a balloon ride to the stratosphere.
The six-hour journeys are set to begin leaving planet Earth in 2024, and tickets for a seat on one of the flights will cost you upwards of $125,000.
Reservations can be secured with a $1,000 deposit – giving travellers three years to come up with the rest of the funds.
Space Perspective launched ticket sales this week after successfully completing a test flight aboard a ship dubbed Neptune One on June 18. The uncrewed Neptune One navigated its planned flight route, similar to the one space tourists will fly.
It reached more than 100,000 feet, traversed the Florida peninsula and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, before being brought ashore.
Travellers booking a spot for the company's commercial space flights are being promised "the most breathtaking six hours of your life".
The experience takes place in a pressurised capsule propelled by a space balloon which offers a slow, gentle journey into the atmosphere.
"To gaze upon Earth from space – to take in the astounding views and vivid colours – is an unforgettable spectacle that astronauts call life-altering," says the company.
No G-force at 100,000 feet
The capsule is lifted by a giant balloon, meaning that travellers don't need to worry about high G-forces typically associated with rocket launches into space.
Instead, tourists will fly from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, meandering from the launch pad to an elevation of around 45,000 feet, higher than most commercial aircraft.
From there, the mammoth space balloon will travel upwards to 75,000 feet, a slice of the atmosphere usually reserved for spy planes.
It will reach its ascent at 100,000 feet above Earth, where the football-stadium-sized balloon will hover for around two hours, giving passengers plenty of time to drink in the 360-degree views of the planet.
Travellers to space cruise in comfort
Each Neptune One capsule has nine reclining seats, eight for passengers and one for the pilot. Panoramic windows mean everyone on board has excellent views and non-glare panes allow for amazing photograph opportunities from inside the capsule.
Refreshments will be served throughout the flight, and there's also a bar, a cabinet to store personal belongings and an onboard bathroom. For those keen on sharing their journey with people down below, there is a Wi-Fi connection that's able to support live streaming.
Sensors in the capsule will track key elements of the journey as it unfolds, such as altitude, wind and temperature, arming passengers with more information about their stratospheric jaunt.
After travelling back down to Earth, guaranteed smooth landings on the water come courtesy of a splashdown cone located on the capsule's base.
Solo flyers can reserve their spot on a flight now, with $1,000 required as a refundable deposit. Travellers can also reserve an entire capsule to bring along a group of up to eight friends.
Those keen to be one of the first space tourists to embark on the journey can reach out to Space Perspective directly for rates for the first 25 journeys, which are being dubbed Legacy Explorer flights.
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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
