Will Artificial Meteor Showers be the future of Fireworks?

Artist’s concept of shooting stars from the ALE-2 satellite. Credit: ALE Co. Ltd.

Can you imagine multi-colored meteor showers timed for your city event or national holiday? This company has developed this concept. From an article from ScienceTimes.com: Japan’s first big Artificial Meteor Shower Show was delayed due to technical challenges. The Astro Live Experiences-2 (ALE-2) satellite of a Tokyo-based company was launched to the Earth's orbit in December 2019 atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster. Initially, they planned to create meteor shows at special events for thousands of people to see.

The 165-lb. (75 kilograms) spacecraft carries 400 spherical pellets, each one 2cm (less than an inch) in diameter. They are designed to blaze in brilliant colors as they burn up while passing through the Earth's surface. The satellite will release a few of them at a time to allow for a meteor shower that is three to ten seconds long. It was estimated that the show could last for several minutes, Lena Okajima told BBC. However, the company announced last month that it would not be able to deploy the spheres this year. Read More