Japanese Astronauts Visit Creators of Gunpla For Gundam Satellite Prep

The Gundam Satellite is prepping for launch to coincide with the 2020 Summer Olympics which will be held in Tokyo Japan next year. To clear the air, the satellite itself will not be a Gundam in terms of appearance or functionality, though it will be housing some "special guests" in the forms of some Gunplas that are specifically made for the journey itself. Now, as the launch date inches ever closer, Japanese astronauts have taken the opportunity to visit those who are fashioning the plastic models for a space journey, going where no real life Gunpla has gone before.

The source of all things Gundam info, Gunjap.net, shared several photos of the astronauts that have traveled into outer space on behalf of Japan taking the opportunity to be shown the tiny mech suit replicas, along with an explanation into what materials will be used in order to make sure that these Gunplas can survive the depths of outer space!

As mentioned earlier, the G-Satellite will be launched as part of the Summer Olympics next year, housing these especially unique Gunplas within the belly of the craft. The G-Satellite, and the Gundams housed within, will be travelling at a speed of five miles per second, blowing away the speed of the mech suits in the anime for sure. Based on this speed, they'll be able to swing around the world in its entirety in around 90 minutes. The satellite itself will tentatively be launched in either March or April of 2020, and then, following the Olympic events, will be returned to Earth.

The two Gunplas in question that will be featured were part of the first anime series of Mobile Suit Gundam, with the main Gundam itself making the journey, along with Char's Zaku. Later this winter, the feature length animated film, "Char's Counterattack" will once again be hitting theaters as part of a one night special event!

Are you excited to see the launch of the G-Satellite next year? Would you like to see other satellites launched in the future with different Gunplas? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Gundam!

Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the most popular franchises in the world, and that popularity is only expected to grow as Sunrise continues to release new projects for the franchise. This includes new anime based in the original Universal Century storyline, which will next see a film trilogy based on the Hathaway's Flash novels, a returning anime for its SD Gundam spin-offs, and even a brand new live-action movie coming to the West co-produced by Legendary, a studio who is currently in the midst of bringing a new take on Toho's Godzilla franchise to the screen.