--- title: "This Japanese Spaceport Concept is Absolutely Gorgeous" description: "A team of Japanese architects have designed a breathtaking concept for a futuristic, four-story spaceport, meant to float just off the shore in Tokyo Bay." date: "2020-11-02" modified: "2020-11-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/spaceport-japan-concept-gorgeous" categories: - "Space" tags: - "Japan" - "spaceport" --- # This Japanese Spaceport Concept is Absolutely Gorgeous ![A team of Japanese architects have designed a breathtaking concept for a futuristic, four-story spaceport, meant to float just off the shore in Tokyo Bay.]() *\Image: Noiz Architects\* A team of Japanese architects, under the "Space Port Japan Association" (SPJ) banner, have designed a breathtaking concept for a futuristic, four-story spaceport, meant to float just off the shore in Tokyo Bay. ![]() *All images: Noiz Architects* The concept, called "[Spaceport Japan]()," echoes the layout of a traditional airport — except that spaceplanes, not commercial airliners, dock at various different gates. There are even drop-off and pick-up lanes via roadways that connect the spaceport to the mainland. A solar panel layer "hovers" over the structure, allowing for the placement of patios, open-air gardens, and "even farmlands in various scale, while providing covered public space for people and other means of personal mobility," [a description]() by architecture firm Noiz Architects reads. ![]() Two towers will pierce through this solar panel layer, each dedicated to departures and arrivals, ensuring that the port will be "recognizable from far away." ![]() Upper levels will allow passengers to view the departure of various spaceplanes, which will take passengers on a two-hour space shuttle experience into orbit. ![]() The spaceport will provide real estate for space-based research and business. The site will also make sure passengers are entertained and catered to with a hotel, art museum, gym, aquarium, and even cinema. ![]() So far, Spaceport Japan is not much more than a beautiful computer render — but SPJ is hoping to turn the concept into a reality "as soon as possible" to expand the country's space industry. **READ MORE:** [This floating spaceport in Japan could bring space travel to the city]() \[*CNN*\] **More on spaceports:** *[Elon Musk: SpaceX Building Floating Spaceports for Moon, Mars Launches]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()