Branson-Backed Balloon Tourism Firm Cuts Staff as Cash Drains

Space Perspective's Spaceship Neptune test capsule Excelsior returns to Port Canaveral aboard the MS Voyager after its first full test flight on Sept. 19.

Photographer: Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Getty Images
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Space Perspective, a Richard Branson-backed startup that wants to take tourists to the stratosphere in a balloon, furloughed almost all of its workforce late last year after running low on cash.

Only a handful of employees are now working at Titusville, Florida-based Space Perspective following the measures, which were announced internally in November and December, said people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the situation is confidential.