World View Enterprises, a firm specializing in cutting edge R&D in space tourism, has raised a fresh round of financing from investors including China’s internet mammoth Tencent, CEO Jane Poynter revealed on November 7.
World View Enterprises plans to launch commercial space flights at a US$75,000 price point by 2016. Its pricing is lower than its competitors as it uses a different technology.
Although space tourism has not yet materialized, industry observers agree that it presents vast potential. The pace of development is picking up with companies like Virgin Galactic and XCOR recently receiving funding from Google Inc.
Tencent puts a foot in the door of the market with this investment as overseas innovation tech firms are among its key investment targets. (Translation by David)