Iwaya Giken Corporation, based in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, is conducting research and development on space travel using a gas balloon.
In June, the company successfully sent a hamster in an airtight cabin developed by the company to an altitude of 23 km in the stratosphere and brought it back to Earth safely. The company plans to conduct a manned high altitude flight test during fiscal year 2023.
The plastic balloon will be filled with enough helium gas to lift people. Passengers enter the cabin, which can withstand changes in atmospheric pressure, such as in a vacuum environment, and slowly ascend with the buoyancy of the gas to reach the stratosphere at an altitude of about 25 km. After viewing the Earth and outer space below, they will descend slowly back to the ground.
Helium One Global Ltd (LON:HE1) was founded in September 2015. The Company’s focus is to explore, develop, and ultimately, become a producer of high-grade helium for the international market, a critical material essential in modern technologies.