TITUSVILLE, Fla. — It's busy for a new tenant at Titusville's Exploration Spaceport, as officials at Space Perspective say they are on the cusp of launching tourist-filled space balloons into orbit.

At the helm of balloon manufacturing and development, Mitzi Giles is a space pioneer in a 21st Century way.

“It is my dream job, absolutely,” Giles said. “I’ve been given a great opportunity here. Space Perspective has given me the authority on how I think this factory should be. And we have one of the most state-of-the-art facilities in the country for balloon manufacturing.”

Giles may take the lead, but she credits her team in the historic endeavor to produce giant space balloons which will float space tourists to orbit.

She says that each employee is cross trained on the different mechanical and engineering work required to do something no one else is right now.

“You can’t go online and google search, ‘How do you build a balloon?'” Giles said. “Nothing much will come up, so you lose your certification here after a year and have to be re-trained. We want to make sure the latest processes are contained and no one is getting too comfortable.”

Space Perspective has now officially opened its “Seely” space balloon factory.

The 700-foot-long facility will manufacture balloons that will slowly guide Spaceship Neptune — a pressurized capsule filled with tourists — to earth's orbit.

During the six-hour journey, Giles said “explorers” will experience expansive views of the earth.

“To go up to the edge of space and get different views of the world we live in,” she said.

Giles said the balloon's production is personal for her — the new factory is named in honor of her mentor, Loren Seely, a free-flight balloon pioneer whose work was key in increasing the reliability of scientific balloons.

Seely died last year.

“I want him looking down and be proud," Giles said. "I have a huge personal connection to this business."

Space Perspective flights are expected to take off in late 2024.