Space Perspective was served a five-day summons on Friday for the company’s high-altitude balloon production plant and office facilities at the Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville after the company fell behind $90,295 in unpaid base rent in recent months, court documents show.
Just 17 months ago, Space Perspective officials hosted a crowd of Brevard County politicians, industry officials and media at a high-profile ribbon-cutting ceremony in August 2023 to dedicate the newly built 700-foot balloon factory on Bartow Way, near an airport. runway.
The white fabric hangar was built where workers could make huge polyethylene balloons. In the future, these balloons could propel pressurized carbon composite capsules as high as 100,000 feet above the Earth’s surface, causing future passengers to pay $125,000 per seat on six-hour “space tourism” trips with Wi-Fi, food, cocktail service and a restroom.
January 16 story: Space Perspective owes $90,000 in unpaid rent on Titusville airport; company status unknown
But business activity at the airport has largely come to a standstill in recent weeks. During a Friday interview, Space Perspective CEO Michael Savage said about 75% of employees have been laid off, and company officials are looking for new investors by the end of the first quarter to fund more test flights and scale up employment again. Last year, payrolls reached nearly 140 employees, he said.
“We are in discussions with the Titusville Airport. We do have to make some adjustments. I guess I want to emphasize something: any time you scale a business at this stage – no matter how uncomfortable it may be – you have to prioritize efficiency. And we’re in the process of making sure we’re looking at that closely,” Savage said.
“We are not closed. There is a skeleton team that continues to work, with the aim of bringing the wider team back once we have funding. Because we are responsible for our burn,” he said.
Space Perspective executives celebrated an unmanned balloon test flight in September that sent a prototype capsule aloft from the deck of the company’s ocean liner — but human missions remain postponed. When company officials announced in December 2021 that they would build the Titusville airport campus with more than $38 million in construction and equipment, the goal was to launch commercial service by the end of 2024.
“All that’s needed between now and our first human flight is just iterative testing of that (September) launch. And that meant a planned scale back,” Savage said, referring to the workforce.
A five-day summons was issued on Friday
On Dec. 2, the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority’s general counsel issued a notice of default citing $90,295 in unpaid base rent from May 1 and Nov. 12 for three parcels at the airport leased by the company. That letter noted that the company “has an unfortunate history of late rent payments and subsequent partial payments to catch up on unpaid rent.”
“While the Authority also has a general understanding of the financial situation in which Space Perspective may find itself, the Authority cannot act as a joint venturer to underwrite Space Perspective’s operations and must enforce its lease agreements,” the standard notice said.
As a result of the unpaid rent, the airport authority is suing for an eviction. A Brevard County Circuit Court judge authorized the subpoena on Friday. That document warned that unless the company responds to the complaint within five working days, it could be evicted without further notice.
Savage said he remains optimistic about the future of Space Perspective — which is still in its pre-revenue stages — and hopes to bring back as many team members as possible. He called the company “an early-stage deep-tech company” that has built a successful MVP, or minimum viable product.
He said the September test flight, which hovered about 30,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico, went better than expected. Now he said polyethylene balloons – which are about 170 meters high and are propelled by hydrogen – have been packed into crates.
He then said that there will likely be six or seven more unmanned flights before two to four human test flights are launched, and that this test cycle should last until 2026. After that, he hopes the company will launch its commercial operations.
Savage said SpaceX founder Elon Musk has laid off employees at his companies in the past, and he noted last week’s Starship explosion that spread debris across the island of Turks and Caicos.
“When investors come in, when people come together, we don’t shy away from talking about the fact that deep tech has early-stage risks,” Savage said.
“And we talk about risk and high reward. Those who work with us for the long term will hopefully reap the reward if we make this thing work,” he said.
Space Perspective Corporate Statement
Savage shared a written statement regarding the status of Space Perspective.
“A spokesperson for Space Perspective confirmed the company’s furlough. As a deep-tech startup, Space Perspective has had a successful 2024 with the launch of its demonstration flight program and provided it can successfully build, launch and fly its capsule and balloon. It has already achieved important milestones. As the business grows, new skills are needed as the business changes. As the company moves through the next round of financing, it positions itself for the next phase and defines a new market that requires total efficiency. Leadership is grateful for those who have been on the journey with us, for those who will continue, and for new team members who will be key to realizing our next phase.”
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Rick Neale is a space reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space Perspective is deployed by Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority