Extracts modified from an article written by the creator of space-offshore.com for the news site NASASpaceflight.com

Voyager is a marine spaceport launch and recovery vessel owned and operated space tourism company Space Perspective, which sells high-altitude balloon flights. Voyager was overhauled in a Louisiana shipyard for almost two years before finally entering service in 2024. Despite having a registered homeport of Port Canaveral, the ship is currently based 70 miles south in Fort Pierce.

Named in honor of the Voyager 1 space probe, the vessel was acquired to allow the company to launch and recover its spacecraft capsule Neptune from anywhere in the world, starting with pre-approved locations near Florida. The company completed its first test flight in June 2021, launching from land near Kennedy Space Center. The capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico roughly seven hours later. On that occasion, the capsule was recovered from the water using a chartered commercial vessel, GO America.

Voyager has the capability to both launch and recover the spacecraft in an integrated, flexible solution that can also relocate to avoid bad weather — a problem that often plagues traditional rocket launches and marine capsule recovery operations. Space Perspective has previously stated it expects Voyager to be the first in a fleet of marine spaceports globally.