Ballooning in Japan as early as this spring or later – A “Space Tour” in Japan by the end of this year!　How much is it?

This is a world first!　Balloon space flight as early as this spring

Experiencing space still seems a long way off. However, the world’s first balloon flight to space will take place as early as this spring or later,

“As early as this spring, a new experience of a space flight from the stratosphere may become a reality,” says Iwatani Giken.

says Ryotaro Seino of Iwatani Giken’s Project Promotion Department.

Iwatani Giken’s plan is to take a balloon into the stratosphere to view space and the Earth. Why a balloon?

Keisuke Iwatani, the president of Iwatani Giken, was in the rocket laboratory at Hokkaido University, and launching a rocket generally requires a lot of money and tens of thousands of parts. The cost of getting on board is also high. We thought about what form would be best for people to experience space in a more accessible way, and we came up with balloons.”

The company was founded in 2004. The project for a manned space flight began in 2008. It took only five years for the project to be realized. That seems surprisingly fast, doesn’t it?

During that time, we began by attaching a string to an unmanned balloon and flying it, followed by a manned flight, and then we eliminated the string and gradually increased the altitude, and so on.

Then, in July 2012, the spacecraft reached the stratosphere in a manned flight test. The preparations were complete.

Not only space cruises, but also unmanned projects such as observation and photography.

To board a rocket requires months of training. However, balloon flights do not require such special training. The secret lies in the “cabin” that is suspended from the balloon. The “cabin” is equipped with a life-support system.

The maximum height that Iwatani Giken’s gas balloons can reach is 18 to 25 km above the ground in the stratosphere. There is almost no air there, but the cabin is supplied with oxygen and is equipped with a carbon dioxide treatment system. The temperature in the stratosphere can be as low as -70°C, but the cabin temperature is maintained at a moderate level.

The cabin is designed to be as comfortable for passengers as a plane ride.

The current cabin accommodates two passengers, one pilot and one passenger. It takes about two hours to reach the highest point, and two to four hours to descend and land. Of that time, the plane stays at 18 to 25 km in the stratosphere for about one hour. During this time, passengers can view the blue Earth from the cabin window.

This is the world’s first balloon flight into space (according to Iwatani Giken). What we are interested in is the price. How much does it cost?

We first offered the program in 2011, and at that time, the price was 24 million yen.

This year, we are planning to have multiple flights, and when we advertised for five people to experience it, we received more than double the number of applicants. It is not yet affordable to the general public, though,

We are planning to build a four-passenger cabin next,” he said. We will gradually increase the size of the cabin, and in the future, we aim to make it worth several million yen.

The day may soon come when space cruises will no longer be reserved for special people.

We are sponsoring the OPEN UNIVERSE PROJECT, a corporate co-creation project that aims to realize balloon space travel. Our goal is to ‘democratize space. We want to make space open to as many people as possible.

In order to make space more accessible, Iwatani Giken is currently seeking a name for the “first balloon space flight. Even if you can’t experience a space flight, you may feel a little closer to space when the balloon you name takes off into the sky.

By the way, Iwatani Giken is not only a space tourism company.

As the name “Giken” suggests, Iwatani Giken is a manufacturing company. We can customize the specifications of our balloons according to customers’ applications and requirements, because we can hang a variety of other things from balloons in addition to manned cabins.

In addition to manned operations such as space excursions, the company is also involved in various unmanned operations such as stratospheric observation and photography, as well as providing technology for space-related development.

Currently, there are about 600 astronauts in the world. Many of those who have been to space have been inspired by their experiences in space, and their lives have changed since then. Our new experience of space tourism from the stratosphere may also bring about such a change of heart.

Click here for the “OPEN UNIVERSE Challenge: Seeking names for the world’s first space flight.