One San Francisco startup’s vision of virtual reality is out of this world. Literally.
SpaceVR plans to launch a foot-long satellite equipped with virtual reality cameras to give Earthlings a view of the planet that few humans have experienced.
“Our long-term vision is live virtual reality space tourism,” said Chief Technology Officer Blaze Sanders, who grew up longing to be an astronaut. “So you’ll really feel like you have a part in space exploration.”
The four-employee company took a step toward launch this month when it signed a deal with NanoRacks, a Houston-area company that handles the logistics of launching payloads aboard private-company rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
SpaceVR calls its satellite Overview 1. It’s scheduled for launch in June, although that date is subject to many variables.
The startup plans to offer two one-minute recorded virtual reality space videos per week, for a $35-per-year subscription. SpaceVR is designing its future satellites to beam live VR, with the views controllable by users on the ground.
