A startup venture in Sapporo is striving to popularize high-altitude travel by sending people into the stratosphere with a helium balloon, enabling them to view a stunning spectacle of the Earth from above.
In a manned test flight in late July, the balloon reached a record-high altitude of 6 kilometers, but it is expected to attain its final target of reaching a height of 25 km by the end of this year.
Iwaya, which started the project, says that if the vessel can reach such an altitude, it will be possible in the near future for customers to view the blueness of the Earth below and the darkness of space above on their journeys, albeit with a significant price tag attached for the average customer.