ALE is a Japan-based space entertainment startup with a mission to promote science through entertainment. ALE creates artificial shooting stars by sending microsatellites full of shooting star pellets to space and releasing the pellets, which enter the atmosphere and burn as shooting stars visible to the naked eye.
ALE’s technology is currently in development and the first satellite is scheduled to be launched in late 2018 to 2019. The Shooting Star Challenge is the official project name of this undertaking and will follow ALE’s journey as it completes the satellite, launches the satellite on a rocket in late 2018 to early 2019, and becomes the first company to create artificial shooting stars in the history of mankind in 2019. This first showcase will be delivered over the sky of the Setouchi Region (including the cities of Hiroshima, Iwakuni, Takamatsu, and Matsuyama) and can be viewed by audience over an area 200 kilometers in diameter.
SHOOTING STAR challenge Project website (Japanese only)
http://shootingstarchallenge.com/
SHOOTING STAR challenge Project Team
- Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University： Toshinori Kuwahara (Satellite Design and Manufacturing)
- Professor, Faculty of System Design, Division of Aerospace Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University: Dr. Hironori Sahara (Orbital Simulation、Thermal Analysis)
- Associate Professor, Aerospace Course, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kanagawa Institute of Technology： Takeo Watanabe (Material Analysis、Structural Analysis)
- Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Nihon University： Shinsuke Abe (Luminescence Observation、Material Development)
SHOOTING STAR challenge Official Partners
・Family Mart Co., Ltd.
・Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.