Japanese firm to deliver artificial meteor shower over Hiroshima using satellite

A rocket on a mission to create history's first artificial meteor shower, blasted into space said, Japanese scientists. A micro-satellite developed for the mission to shower meteors over Hiroshima as a part of the initial experiment for what it calls a "shooting stars on demand" service.

The satellite releases small balls that glow brightly as they move at high speeds through the atmosphere, resembling a meteor shower. It was attached to a small-size Epsilon-4 rocket which was recently launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The rocket also carried other six ultra-small satellites that will showcase different "innovative" technologies, JAXA spokesman Nobuyoshi Fujimoto told AFP.

"I was too moved for words," Lena Okajima, president of the startup behind the artificial meteor showers, told the Jiji Press agency."I feel like now the hard work is ahead."

The firm plans its first-ever out-of-this-world show over Hiroshima in the spring of 2020. The satellite has 400 tiny balls whose formula has been kept under the wraps. These balls will make for at least 20-30 events, as one shower includes up to 20 shooting stars, says the company.

The company is planning for a second satellite launch in mid-2019 and is targeting "the whole world" with its new concept of artificial shooting stars. Hiroshima is chosen as the first location because of its good weather, landscape, and cultural assets. The company is also working with scientists at Japanese universities as well as the officials from the government. The company is yet to reveal the pricing for the artificial meteor shower.