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The Final Frontier
Space Perspective Co-founder and CEO Jane Poynter is on a mission to show the world from a stratospheric view
When the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong walked across its surface and uttered his famous line (you know the one), Americans witnessed the dawn of a new era of possibilities. Now, more than 50 years later, Space Perspective Cofounder and CEO Jane Poynter is on a mission to take us on another small step from our home planet. Poynter, whose company will be launching up to eight travelers nearly 20 miles above the Earth’s surface from Kennedy Space Center in 2024—at $125,000 a seat—to see our planet from “the space perspective.”
Space tourism may sound like an industry pulled straight out of science fiction, but the same can be said for Poynter’s entire career. In 1991, she was part of the Biosphere 2 mission, the first attempt at a humanmade biosphere that was used as a laboratory for understanding how our planet’s ecosystems work, as well as a prototype space base. Poynter
says that the experience was akin to what astronauts feel when looking at Earth from space.
“They [astronauts] connect with this incredible idea that here’s this planet, our spaceship Earth, that we’re all crew members on,” says Poynter, and that “instead of seeing our world from the outside in, we saw this little tiny world from the inside out.”
Then, in 1993, she got one step closer to Mars when she co-founded Paragon Space Development, the company that would go on to drop former Google exec Alan Eustace nearly 136,000 feet from above the planet’s surface. Eustace free-fell for almost five minutes, broke the sound barrier, and still holds the record for the highest skydive. Today, Paragon has technology on every human-piloted spacecraft in America.
Poynter says that the cutting edge of innovation is “the river she swims in,” but that human space flight in particular has an “outsized ability to inspire.” And when tourists board the Spaceship Neptune capsule in 2024, they’re in for more than just a breathtaking view.
“When astronauts go to space and see our beautiful planet from that vantage point…they speak about it as almost like a consciousness change, like it really changes their perception of our world,” says Poynter.
The tour itself lasts about six hours, with guests boarding a capsule that is gently lifted at 12 mph via a balloon filled with lighter-than-air gas, with no g-force and no spacesuits required. As the capsule ascends, the “astronauts” will be able to enjoy a full bar and Wi-Fi in the “space lounge,” and a 360-degree panoramic view from the largest windows ever flown to space. When the capsule reaches its full altitude, the thin blue line of the atmosphere, our bright swirling Milky Way galaxy, and the enormity of our sun against the backdrop of black space will be in view.
Those onboard will be able to marvel at the magnificence of our world and the vast, glittering starscape that surrounds it for two hours, and then the descent will begin. A small amount of gas will be released from the balloon, and the capsule will slowly lower back to Earth, where it will land safely in
the ocean and be lifted onto a boat for everyone to disembark.
Poynter believes that travelers today are looking for more in their travel experiences, yearning for adventure that is “with purpose” or “transformational,” which she hopes will be what those who take a Space Perspective tour will feel. While the price point may be high now, Poynter says that as demand increases, a trip to space will become more affordable for all.
“It’s very difficult for us to imagine now, at the very beginning of this, how it’s going to change all our lives, but it will.”
Michael Stamm
A Philadelphia-based real estate developer brings his luxury style and community spirit to Delray Beach
For luxury real estate developer Michael Stamm, Delray Beach was never too far out of mind. He’d spent the better part of 20 years vacationing in the Palm Beaches, all the while learning what’s where, who the biggest players in the real estate game are, which restaurants you just can’t miss. But in Delray, he says, he found something unique. “I love Delray because it checks off both spectrums from a nightlife perspective all the way down to a casual beach town, and I don’t think there’s anywhere else in Palm Beach County that can say the same thing,” says Stamm, whose Philadelphia-based development company, Stamm Development Group, will soon be opening the doors of its Florida headquarters right in the heart of Atlantic Avenue after expanding operations to South Florida three years ago. With our region’s red-hot real estate market, he knew there would be a demand for the luxury homes developed by his company.
Stamm’s professional career started in corporate America, working in real
estate valuation and structuring right out of college. Stamm always thought of himself as an entrepreneur and always had a passion for real estate; after two years of assessing values and trends, he decided he wanted to try his hand at the development and construction side of the business. This transition, he says, was not without its challenges. “It was definitely difficult. The first couple of years were like riding a bike with training wheels,” he says. Now, as one of the most active luxury residential developers in the city, he’s fully hit his stride.
“It’s fun to create an investment opportunity and then be standing on the completed rooftop deck looking at the city and knowing the years of work that went behind the scenes to get there,” Stamm says.
Whereas many big-time developers would just parachute into a new area, throw up some developments, rake in the cash and move on to the next big thing, Stamm has decided to take a more active role in the Delray Beach community.
The Stamm Development Group (SDG) Foundation, a nonprofit he founded in 2019 to serve the Philadelphia community, has already made inroads to the philanthropic scene of South Florida. So far, the organization has worked with Adopt-A-Family, various homeless shelters and some of the area’s feeding organizations in an effort to uplift those in need. “There’s a huge necessity,” says Stamm. “I know we build high-end homes ... but that’s not the only reality in [Delray] nor in Palm Beach County. The spectrum of wealth and everything that comes along with it is just as drastic here as it is in Philadelphia.”
Stamm says that continuing the tradition of community service that began in Philadelphia is simply part of his company’s entrepreneurial spirit. Over the next year, he plans to donate more than $200,000 to the Palm Beach County community. As the company continues to grow, so too will the amount that it gives back.
“We’re excited as we get more and more open [in Palm Beach County] to show the community the way that we can touch families and change the youth and the existing properties and set people up to be successful,” he says, and that part of being a market leader in an area means more than just making money; it means helping out.
Stamm currently splits his time between Philadelphia and South Florida, and while moving down here full-time isn’t in the cards quite yet (he has two young children in school), he sees in Delray Beach what so many are also seeing: a potential home.
“[Delray]’s got a lot of flair, a lot of momentum, a lot of uniqueness to it that I think is really starting to appeal to people as they go there,” Stamm says. “You’re seeing more and more people fall in love with it, and it’s exciting.”
AARON BRISTOL Michael Stamm
