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Space Cowboys

The rise, fall, and return of Zero-G, the “zero gravity” lower-priced alternative to Blue Origin, which allows tourists and researchers to experience the flavor of space over the Atlantic for 10 grand a pop.

William D. Cohan on a Zero G no gravity flight
Gohd, himself, has been on quite a ride with Zero-G, following a long and successful career as a Wall Street trader and problem-solver Photo: Courtesy of Zero G
William D. Cohan
December 18, 2024

During the predawn hours of December 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, I drove from Orlando to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, gathered together with my fellow travelers, ate a bagel as directed, signed away all legal liability (also as directed), and got fitted with a modified spacesuit. Matt Gohd, the executive chairman of the Zero Gravity Corporation, had invited me to take a ride on his company’s modified Boeing 727-200 jet to experience weightlessness for close to 10 minutes. During the 90-minute flight, the plane would cut steep, 25,000-foot ascents and trace massive parabolas over the Atlantic—“the most amazing experience there is,” as he’d put it in his email.