> That price seems crazy to me. It's "just a balloon" I don't see what their hard costs are that make this more than the cost of a commercial flight.
They need to make back the cost of R&D. IE, based on how much it costs to design and certify the balloon, the first flight might operate at a loss. They will need to perform X successful flights before they break even on the cost of R&D.
IE, it might cost $10,000 to pay the staff on the balloon ride, but the vessel itself might cost 10 million to design. It might use $200,000 worth of parts, but the factory cost $20 million to build. Those costs need to be amortized by paying passengers.
They need to make back the cost of R&D. IE, based on how much it costs to design and certify the balloon, the first flight might operate at a loss. They will need to perform X successful flights before they break even on the cost of R&D.
IE, it might cost $10,000 to pay the staff on the balloon ride, but the vessel itself might cost 10 million to design. It might use $200,000 worth of parts, but the factory cost $20 million to build. Those costs need to be amortized by paying passengers.
I'm sure the cost will come down, just like everything else. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_scale