Fine dining, at a new high. A Michelin-starred chef will take his cuisine to our upper atmosphere

Ever since humans have journeyed to space, their meals there have proved to be, well, nothing to write home about. But that could change after a Michelin-starred chef teamed up with the Florida-based startup Space Perspective to take fine dining to our upper atmosphere in late 2025. Six guests are set to ascend aboard Spaceship Neptune to the stratosphere, where they will enjoy an immersive dining experience served up by Danish Michelin-starred chef Rasmus Munk. Munk, 33, will travel with the guests and serve the meal himself, from a small kitchen. He says his menu will be inspired by the impact of space innovation. "We want to tell stories through the food," Munk says. "We … want to talk and highlight some of the research that's been done through the last 60 years." "I think that will make an even stronger impact when you're up there and looking down," added Munk, who will fly with the six ticket buyers. Spaceship Neptune is more of a balloon than a rocket. The company says its pressurized capsule, attached to a balloon, will lift to an altitude of around 100,000 feet (30,480 meters) above sea level where guests will dine while watching the sun rise over the curvature of the Earth. Organizers are promising an out-of-this-world experience for those with an appetite for adventure. But such an astronomic menu comes with a fittingly astronomic price tag — $495,000 per ticket. Organizers say the trip will last six hours and that they are still in discussion with potential participants. It's one of the latest offerings by private firms that include Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX. The flight won't technically reach "space"—Spaceship Neptune will ascend to around 19 miles (30 kilometers), well below the Karman line, the boundary separating Earth's atmosphere and outer space, which is some 62 miles (100 kilometers) from Earth. Munk's menu is expected to be a far cry from meals eaten by past and present astronauts. This article was provided by The Associated Press.