The Japanese space startup “Iwaya Giken” offered everyone a flight on a high-altitude balloon to explore space. The two-seat cabin presented by them will be able to get up to a height of 25 km, from where everyone can see the roundness of the shape of the Earth.
Unforgettable journey from “Iwaya Giken”
The Japanese startup Iwaya Giken announced on Tuesday, February 21, that it was ready to send everyone to a high-altitude flight in order to get an experience close to that received by space tourists in orbital and suborbital flights.
It will be possible to do this with the help of a high-altitude balloon capable of rising to a height of 25 km. The founder of the company based in Sapporo in the north of the country, Keisuke Iwaya has been working on the project since 2012. Recently, the travel company JTB Corp. joined Iwaya Giken for its implementation.
At the press conference, everyone could look at the carbon fiber cabin with a diameter of 1.5 m, which has huge windows for inspection. It will be suspended under the balloon and will take two passengers to a place where the sky is black even during the day.
Balloon as a space transport
Using balloons to reach space is not a new idea. However, until now, no one has used them to rise to such a height. According to Iwaya, the main goal of the project is to provide many people with the opportunity to get a “space” experience.
The height of 25 km to which the balloon will rise is not the limit of space at all, but only the middle of the stratosphere. So it is difficult to compare it with the experience of space tourists. But you should not pay USD 55 million for a place.
According to representatives of Iwaya Giken, a trip on their balloon will cost 180 thousand dollars, which is less than Virgin Galactic asks for a suborbital flight. At this price, a Japanese startup offers its customers a two-hour rise to a height, from where you can already make sure that the Earth is round and the time to admire the space.
Acceptance of applications for the flight is open now. Tourists will not need the long preparation that everyone who is going to space necessarily goes through. In addition, “Iwaya Giken” is convinced that it has taken care of the safety of the flight.
According to phys.org
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