You can now pay £100,000 to go to the loo in space

Space tourism is the final frontier in travel, with people currently willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for just a few minutes above the Earth’s atmosphere.

And yet, passengers on board the likes of Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, are told to go to the bathroom before they take off because there are no facilities on board.

However, wealthy but weak-bladdered budding cosmonauts needn’t despair: flight company Space Perspective has got you covered.

The Florida-based firm has just announced the creation of a luxury lavatory, which it has christened the “Space Spa”, on board its carbon-neutral spaceship.

The so-called spa will come complete with “high-end products”, living plants and a “plush” toilet seat lid, and be decorated with “soft, soothing colour tones”, according to the company.

In a statement, Space Perspective's founder and co-CEO Jane Poynter, admitted: "One of the most consistent questions we receive when people learn that our spaceflight lasts six hours is if there will be a loo.

"The answer is always, of course, yes. And there is no need for a vacuum toilet like astronauts contend with, or a diaper.”

She continued: “Having a proper and beautifully designed restroom contributes significantly to the accessible and unique experience we are offering and accentuates the incredible views of the deep blackness of space, the brilliant thin blue line of our atmosphere, the stars above and the Earth below."

An arial view of the plush but compact 'spa'Space Perspective

According to the press release, the Space Spa will “surpass facilities you would find in a first-class airplane cabin” and serve as a “solo oasis” during spaceflight.

The spa will be tucked into one side of the Spaceship Neptune capsule, which will be carried high into the Earth’s atmosphere by a massive balloon, with the first flights due to take off late next year.

Its creators say the Neptune craft was developed to be “the most accessible, most sustainable, and safest spacecraft on or above Planet Earth”.

“Rather than blasting off, we rise slowly at 12mph, making the experience accessible to anyone medically fit to fly with a commercial airline,” Space Perspective boasts on its website.

It adds that the Neptune’s ascent peaks above 99 per cent of the Earth's atmosphere, at the edge of space, and that passengers will have two hours to view "the curve of the Earth, the total blackness of space, and the thin blue line of our atmosphere".

The Neptune capsule will climb slowly during its ascent, allowing passengers to soak in the viewsSpace Perspective

The roomy capsule interior, which it dubs the “Space Lounge”, consists of nine seats, for eight passengers (or “space explorers”) and one pilot, and is surrounded by 360-degree panoramic windows – the largest ever flown to space.

It also comes equipped with WiFi, and passengers can look forward to a bar service and gourmet meal of their choosing.

And, of course, there’s the “spa”.

"The Space Spa is the one place in the capsule's interior where Explorers will be able to have a moment of solitude, so, it was imperative that it felt like a retreat,” " said Isabella Trani, a designer at Space Perspective.

“Explorers will find this environment cocooning and comforting, with no sharp edges, which adds to the ambience and creates a very welcoming place.”

The current going rate for a Spaceship Neptune seat is $125,000 (just over £100,000) so you’d expect a bit of bang for your buck.

And, clearly, people are willing to fork out – back in July, the company announced that it had sold more than 1,600 tickets, translating to around $200 million (around £165 million) in sales.

A glimpse at the capsule's 'lounge' interiorSpace Perspective

“Space Perspective's mission is to take as many people as possible to space because looking down on our planet from that vantage point [...] will radically shift one's perception of our world and our place within it,” the company said in its statement.

“Astronauts often return from missions with a fire inside them to create positive change, and many get involved in environmental and societal causes.”

And soon, Spaceship Neptune passengers will be able to return from their “missions” with the same fire inside them – plus a pleasantly empty bladder.

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