World's first artificial shooting star display to be launched by Japanese space start up
Chief executive and founder of space company ALE, Dr Lena Okajima, says she wants to "inspire wonder and spark scientific curiosity" with an awe-inducing multi-coloured meteor shower, but also hopes to collect crucial atmospheric data that helps humankind tackle climate change.
A Tokyo-based space company, ALE, has announced it will create the world's first artificial meteor shower in 2025 - producing man-made shooting stars that could be seen from the UK.
Named project Sky Canvas, the celestial light show will involve launching satellites up into space and deploying "space fireworks".
The objective is entertainment on an unprecedented scale - but also to collect atmospheric data from the mesosphere, which developers at ALE hope will be vital to climate change research.
The largely unexplored mesosphere extends about 31 to 53 miles (50 to 85 km) above our planet - currently too high to be documented by weather balloons and aircraft, but too low to be reached by satellites.
Dr Lena Okajima, founder and chief executive of ALE, said: "Our aim is to contribute to the sustainable development of humankind and to bring space closer to all of us.
"We believe we can further our scientific understanding of climate change while also inspiring curiosity and interest in people all over the world about space and the universe."
news.sky.com
