Priestmangoode's space capsule

PriestmanGoode designs a space capsule

Having worked on train, plane and boat interiors, the design studio turns its gaze to the heavens

Paul Priestman and Nigel Goode have pretty much cornered the market in transport design. The industrial design duo have a string of high-profile clients to their name, from Virgin’s tilting trains and Norwegian cruise liners, to first class cabins for Lufthansa, Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines and others.

But now PriestmanGoode is pouring all that experience into ‘near space’. The US company, Paragon Space Development Corporation, has commissioned the London and China-based firm to create a concept capsule to carry up to eight passengers 30km into the sky.

 

Priestmangoode's space capsule
Priestmangoode's space capsule

Paragon, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, plans to take the capsule to the edge of space with the use of a massive helium balloon. PriestmanGoode has designed the capsule for maximum viewing opportunities, with panoramic windows constructed from a number of small high pressure units, and a cupola viewing dome. Passengers “will be able to gaze at the astounding views, the blackness of space, the brilliance of stars and the thin veil of atmosphere enveloping our planet – scenes previously witnessed exclusively by astronauts,” says Paragon.

$75,000 will buy ticket-holders a two-hours float up to the capsule, another two hours to experience near space, and around half an hour to drift back down to earth. No interiors images have been released yet, but Good says of the project, “we didn’t just want to design a vessel, we wanted to define what commercial space travel could be. We wanted to create a stylish, elegant, luxurious environment for this unique experience. It was all about finding the right balance between form and function.”

 

{media1}

Find out more about this project here. For more on good design, consider our Design Book, which packs centuries of innovation into 500 iconic products. Buy it from the people who made it, here.