A few weeks after the affair of the Chinese “spy balloon”, this Japanese company offers itself a spotlight by highlighting this same technology to send tourists into space.
The “spy balloons” have been talked about in recent days with Chinese machines in the sky of the United States. In Japan, a company was inspired by these balloons to send tourists into space. The Iwaya Giken company’s marketing campaign was not necessarily launched at the most opportune time. But the Japanese start-up does not see the connection between Chinese spy balloons and its own crazy project of balloon travel in space.
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She explains that she has been working on this concept for almost seven years and now has mastered all the technologies to send tourists into space at a fairly reasonable price. The first tickets for the big trip have just gone on sale. There are five so far. It each costs 24 million yen, that is to say 166,000 euros.
It’s expensive, but it’s little compared to other space travel sold for example by SpaceX. The tourists who left with the rockets of Elon Musk’s company for a stay in the International Space Station each pay 50 million euros for the adventure.
“Democratize” space travel
The Japanese start-up wants to democratize space travel and therefore the experience will be much less intense. But it is also accessible to everyone. That is to say, there is no special training, no piloting or maneuvering lessons, and not even an astronaut outfit to put on.
The trip will take place in a sphere of transparent plastic and steel about 1.5 m in diameter. Inside, there are only two seats, side by side. One for the corporate driver and the other for the tourist. The sphere can handle both temperature changes and pressure changes as the flight progresses.
Above planes, but not in space
The takeoff will be from a somewhat isolated area of the Hokkaido region, in the very north of Japan. And the return will be not far from there, but at sea. In total, the trip should last 4 hours. There are two hours of ascent under a gigantic helium balloon to reach an altitude of 25 kilometers. This is called the stratosphere.
It’s not space yet, but it’s well above the altitude of airliners, it’s an area where you can see very well the spherical shape of the Earth. The tourist will stay in this area for an hour before slowly descending to the ground. Travel is expected to begin in December in Japan.
Other companies are working on the same concept. An American company called “Space Perspective” also claims that it will launch a capsule for tourists into the stratosphere.
The start should, there, be given next year.