The startup PD AeroSpace Ltd. is developing a reusable spacecraft shaped like an airplane to carry paying customers into space by 2023.
The Nagoya-based company plans to offer space flights up to an altitude of 110 kilometers using the craft, which is capable of carrying six passengers and two pilots, at a price of ¥17 million ($153,000) per person.
Currently, 11 workers at a plant in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, are working to fly an unmanned test vehicle up to an altitude of 100 km.