On May 21, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced the successful liftoff of its H-IIA F17 rocket carrying a four-satellite payload that includes the Venus Climate Orbiter Akatsuki and Negai, a microsatellite developed by Soka University engineering students led by Dr. Seiji Kuroki, professor of information systems science.

The Negai—which literally means “to dream” or “wish” in Japanese—weighs just one kilogram and will test a highly advanced information processing system also developed by Soka students that is reliable and resistant to intense cosmic radiation. It was inserted into a near-Earth orbit of 300 kilometers and should plunge back into the atmosphere in roughly three weeks, creating an artificial meteor streaking across the sky. Hence the name, Negai, or “to wish upon a shooting star,” explained Prof. Kuroki.

In doing so, the microsatellite will be fulfilling its second mission: The Negai contains on microfilm the names and dreams of some 8,000 children who were recruited in a public campaign in 2009, and its fiery re-entry should put on a captivating show for the young audience. In addition, photographs of the Earth taken by an onboard camera will be distributed to each participant. The Soka development team thus hopes the Negai will prove meaningful in broadening vistas of the future for children.