Company CEO Keisuke Iwaya said passengers do not need to be billionaires, go through intense training or have the language skills needed to fly in a rocket.
Keisuke Iwaya, left, CEO of a Japanese space development company, Iwaya Giken, and Takayuki Hanasaka, JTB Senior Managing Executive Officer, pose for a photo after unveiling a two-seater cabin and a balloon that the company says is capable of rising to an altitude of 15 miles, which is roughly the middle of the stratosphere, as he speaks during a news conference in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.
The company, Iwaya Giken, based in Sapporo in northern Japan, has been working on the project since 2012 and says it has developed an airtight two-seat cabin and a balloon capable of rising up to an altitude of 25 kilometers , where the curve of the Earth can be clearly viewed. While passengers won't be in outer space — the balloon only goes up to roughly the middle of the stratosphere — they'll be higher than a jet plane flies and have an unobstructed view of outer space.
While Japanese space ventures have fallen behind U.S. companies like SpaceX, Iwaya said his aim is to make space more reachable. But unlike a rocket or a hot air balloon, the Iwaya Giken vessel will be lifted by helium that can be largely reused, company officials said, and flights will safely stay above Japanese territory or airspace. The first trip is planned as early as later this year.
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