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Sanrio’s beloved character has embarked on a special mission this year–all the way to space!  

The “Let’s Send a Message from Space! Campaign” (「宇宙からメッセージを送ろう！」キャンペーン) is part of the festivities to celebrate Hello Kitty’s 40th anniversary in 2014. Our favorite feline friend was even launched into space back in June, and her makers are now taking applications from anyone in the world to display messages on the digital display board inside her satellite. Wouldn’t it be cool to see your very own message delivered from space?

The Hodoyoshi-3 (ほどよし3号) was built at the University of Tokyo and launched into space on a rocket from Russia on June 19. As a micro-satellite, its dimensions are quite small–only 50 x 50 x 70 cm (19.69 x 19.69 x 27.56 in.):

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▼From the Hodoyoshi 3-4 Satellite Project

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But what makes the Hodoyoshi 3 really special is the fact that it’s carrying a minuscule passenger inside–a 4-cm (1.57 in.) tall figure of Hello Kitty!

The figure is placed inside a 10-cm (3.94 in.) cubic space next to a window which offers stunning views of Earth. Above the window is a digital message board, which can display up to 45 characters at once.

▼Take a look at Hello Kitty’s current crib–not a bad view to be with stuck with, huh?

As part of the “Let’s Send a Message from Space! Campaign,” people are encouraged to submit their own messages to Sanrio’s website. A lucky few will then be displayed on the satellite message board next to Hello Kitty.

The theme for the first round of submissions is “Thank you from Space,” which will be running until August 25. After that, one message per weekday (10 messages total) will be displayed during the second round of submissions between August 26 and September 8. The theme for the second round is “If you went to space…?”. Just be sure that your messages are no more than 180 characters in length.  

All of the campaign instructions are written in English on the official site, but we’ll post them here as well:

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Once you’ve thought of your message, go here to officially submit it. Good luck getting them into space, everyone!

Source: ITmedia Inc.
Images: YouTube (sanriojapan), Sanrio (Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary), Nano-Satellite Center, Facebook (Hodoyoshi 3-4 Satellite)