Japanese company to create 'world's first artificial meteor shower by 2020'

A Japanese company developing “shooting stars on demand” has said it will create the world's first artificial meteor shower in 2020.

Tokyo-based start-up ALE said it is in the final stages of developing two micro-satellites - each programmed to release 400 tiny balls that glow brightly as they enter the atmosphere, simulating a meteor shower.

The first satellite will be jetted into space on a rocket being launched by the nation’s space agency by March 2019, according to Agence France-Presse.

The second will be launched in mid-2019 on a private-sector rocket.

ALE’s two satellites will start orbiting the Earth by February 2020, with the world's first delivery of artificial shooting stars set for spring 2020 over Hiroshima.

“We are targeting the whole world, as our stockpile of shooting stars will be in space and can be delivered across the world,” ALE chief executive Lena Okajima told reporters on Wednesday.

The 400 balls will be enough for 20-30 events and the satellites will be able to stay in space for around two years, the company said.

Each star is expected to shine for several seconds before being completely burned up — well before they fall low enough to pose any danger to anything on Earth.

They would glow brightly enough to be seen even over the light-polluted metropolis of Tokyo.

If all goes well, and the skies are clear, the 2020 event could be visible to millions of people, ALE said.

Okajima said the company chose Hiroshima for its first display because of its good weather, landscape and cultural assets.

ALE is working in collaboration with scientists and engineers at universities in Japan as well as local government officials and corporate sponsors.

The firm is said to be spending around $20 million on the development, production, launch and operation of the two satellites.