Japanese company mulls 1-hour Japan-U.S. travel via space

A Japanese travel agency announced plans to offer point-to-point space travel by the 2030s, promising trips between Tokyo and U.S. cities like New York in just 60 minutes.

Nippon Travel Agency Co., in collaboration with reusable rocket startup Innovative Space Carrier Inc., aims to launch a revolutionary transport service connecting any two points on Earth within an hour.

A round-trip ticket is estimated at 100 million yen ($657,000).

"We hope this business will be a new starting point to connect space travel and tourism," Nippon Travel President Keigo Yoshida said at a news conference in Tokyo.

The spacecraft would launch from an offshore platform, and the project is expected to roll out in stages: space-food tasting and ground facility tours will start in fiscal 2026, with orbital stays targeted for the 2040s.

Nippon Travel will manage design and marketing, while the startup seeks to reduce costs by maximising the number of flights per vehicle.

President Keigo Yoshida of Nippon Travel said the initiative could create a new link between space tourism and practical transport. Advance applications open in fiscal 2026.

A non-stop flight from Tokyo to New York takes approximately 12 to 13 hours with total travel time varying depending on factors like specific flight path, wind speed, air traffic and possible layovers.

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