World's First Commercial Jetpack Arrives Next Year

An anonymous reader writes: The good news is that soon, you'll finally be able to buy that jetpack you've always wanted. The bad news is that it'll run you about $150,000. The Martin Jetpack will use fans, rather than rockets, to lift humans weighing up to 120kg (~256 lbs). Its makers say it can reach altitudes of up to 1 kilometer, and fly for up to 30 minutes at a time. The jetpack will be sold commercially to emergency services next year, and then a smaller, personal version will hit the market in 2017.

Comments

Re:Licenses

[PopeRatzo]

And cue the screams of the people who think they can just buy one, strap it on, and ascend to 1km

But it will make for some very amusing Darwin Awards.

Check the video for chute test footage...

[Ellis D. Tripp]

They have a specially designed ultra low altitude chute. It is fired from a mortar, and gets blown into a nearly open canopy shape by the blast that deploys it.

Doesn't need hundreds of feet of freefall to inflate it.