It reaches about a third of the ceiling the Virgin Galactic trip is expected to reach, at a third the price; hardly an attractive proposition. A longer trip time (hours at altitude) could make it more interesting. Unfortunately, long trips are not likely to be offered, for the simple reason that this is a balloon: there is no control over the trajectory, and the operators wouldn't like it drifting over the ocean or over a border. So it's up to the stratosphere, have a look around, and back down you go. At $75K a pop, is it really worth it? With only one-third the way to actual space, not even a taste of freefall, and six passengers packed into that capsule, it has all the marks of Budget Tours Inc., except for the Premium price. Better wait until VG prices go down a bit, and spend your dough on a real space trip. Or take a trip on the Vomit Comet for $5K, and experience actual weightlessness.

Am I right in thinking that the planet has a limited amount of helium left,and we can't produce it? If so,then this is a colossal waste of that gas, and surely a different, re-usable, or easily made gas would serve better?

If I wanted to do the balloon thing I would make my own.

Mr Whyte is totally correct, helium is a precious and finite resource that leaks away into space and cannot be reclaimed. This stupid project is an obscene waste of helium which could be stored for future use in medical applications, superconductivity and a myriad other valuable technologies.

Commercially I can't see it working - if you have $70,000 to blow on a balloon ride, then chances are that you have sufficient money to blow $200,000 on a space ride with Branson. It's not exactly a price sensitive market at these prices..... $7,000 and perhaps it'd be a different issue.

fill that sucker with hydrogen. add a release nozzle on the underside of the cargo, a tank of compressed oxygen, and an ignition device. space elevator.

@ David Whyte
I couldn't agree more. Irresponsible behaviour in the extreme, at the extreme. If we just throw the stuff away on frivolous adventures like this, we will not be able to have MRI scanners, nor many other applications for which it is essential.

@ UltraBadger Helium is not by any reasonable measurement a finite resource. The reason that helium is refined from natural gas instead of being refined from the atmosphere is because the natural gas sourced helium is cheaper no that you can not produce helium on an industrial scale from the atmosphere at a workable cost.
The FAA forbids using hydrogen for lift in manned vehicles. Asinine but what do you expect from a government agency.

What happened to the balloon? Just more garbage in the ocean?

Helium remains in the earths atmosphere it's just at an altitude where its difficult to obtain. If we ever built a space elevator one of the things we might be able to use it for is to retrieve helium from the upper atmosphere.