Setting off fireworks everytime there is a major event is pretty much standard fare. Fireworks during New Years, during Christmas, on the 4th of July, and so on. Don’t get us wrong, fireworks are awesome and it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it, it’s still pretty great and impressive whenever you see a fireworks show.
However what if there could be something that’s even greater than fireworks? What if we could recreate meteor showers? Wouldn’t that be awesome? Turns out that there is a Japanese startup whose goal is exactly that, which is the creation of “shooting stars on demand”. The company is developing the technology to do that and claim that the world’s first artificial meteor shower could take place in early 2020.
How does this work, you ask? Basically this will be achieved by launching two micro-satellites into space. These satellites will then release tiny balls that upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere, will glow brightly simulating a meteor shower. We imagine that the release of several of these glowing balls will recreate that effect, minus any worries about potential debris.
The satellites will stay in space for around 2 years, with each satellite housing 400 of these balls that according to the company, will be good for about 20-30 events. We imagine that hiring these satellites will be costly, considering that the company is said to have spent about $20 million on development, production, and launch, but it remains to be seen if all of this will be worth it.