why Zephalto arrives in Toulouse
After a lightning installation in the space of a month, the startup Zephalto reflected, Thursday, June 30, its new premises of 200 m2 in the town of Escalquens, south-east of Toulouse. Until now, all of its teams were located in Pouget (Hérault) and this locality will retain the headquarters of this New Space player which was created in 2016.
this date, Zephalto aims to realize the dream of its founder, Vincent Farret d’Astiès, namely”travel to the stars without impact on the environment“. This ambition gave birth to Céleste, an aircraft balloon capable of carrying six passengers, as well as two pilots.
“We are going to make people travel with a balloon to bring them to the gates of space, in the stratosphere, at an altitude of 25,000 meters, with a very very reduced carbon impact”, presents the manager.
In total, the experience will last six hours, including a 90-minute climb and descent each. But in the ranks of Zephalto, we prefer to associate their experience with sustainable travel rather than space tourism, a segment already occupied by companies. Space X or Virgin Galactic.
“For us, they are indirect competitors because we will not give the same. First of all, we are French and it is a source of pride to carry out this project here. French expertise in aeronautics and space is more than recognized in the world. But above all our experience is low carbon and it is this positioning that makes Zephalto’s DNA. We want to restore the image of space tourism, seen as a polluting activity”, explains Marie Boscou, brand manager within the startup.
Getting closer to partners and suppliers
But this project is still only an ambition at a time when Zephalto is betting on a first commercial flight at the end of 2024.”The place of the first take-off is confidential, but I can tell you that it will take place in France, in a symbolic place“, promises Vincent Farret d’Astiès. In the meantime, the young push has already carried out three test flights, including the first in 2020 and all successful according to its management.
A gift, “we are launching the industrial phase of the project“, announces the founder, whose new stage is materialized by the installation in Toulouse. This workshop will accommodate the technical and R&D teams of the company, i.e. 75% of the workforce, the rest (marketing and sales) being installed in Paris. In addition, the 22 employees will be joined in 2022 by 40 new employees, mainly engineers.
“Beyond getting closer to the experts, we especially wanted to get closer to our suppliers and partners”, justifies Vincent Farret d’Astiès.
The beginning of the adventure, the latter works in close collaboration with CNES, which has some experience in stratospheric balloons, particularly alongside the local company Cnim Air Space. If the entrepreneur wishes to keep the list of his partners and suppliers confidential, the inauguration evening of his premises in Toulouse was able to count on the presence of first-class representatives of the Toulouse companies ST Composites or Kinéis.
Already 450
On the financial side, here too confidentiality is required in the ranks of Zephalto, although the specific company benefits from fundraising, subsidies and various partnerships to advance economically. Once launched, the ticket for a place on board Céleste will cost 120,000 euros at launch.
“We already have 450 pre-sales, in other words reservations. For the moment, there are a lot of French people but it is intended to become international. These first expected are responsible explorers”, likes to summarize Vincent Farret d’Asties. “We have 450 people who have defined an interest, but first we will launch pre-sales”, completes Marie Boscou.
Unlike its competitors, space travel with Zephalto will not require physical preparation beforehand. “Who can get on a plane will be able to travel in the capsule,” concluded the brand director.