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Lexus unveils (fictional) single-seat spacecraft

November 10, 2016
Lexus unveils (fictional) single-seat spacecraft
The SkyJet will feature in the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
The SkyJet will feature in the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
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The SkyJet will feature in the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
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The SkyJet will feature in the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
The SkyJet features headlights inspired by those of the Lexus LC coupe and an interpretation of Lexus's signature mesh grille
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The SkyJet features headlights inspired by those of the Lexus LC coupe and an interpretation of Lexus's signature mesh grille
The SkyJet pilot is seated in a cockpit with near-panoramic views out of the craft
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The SkyJet pilot is seated in a cockpit with near-panoramic views out of the craft
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Lexus has shown that it can design more than just cars, with the unveiling of a new single-seat spacecraft. The SkyJet is designed specifically for pursuit and shares features with the upcoming Lexus LC coupe. Sadly, it will only be available in a fictional world and not for another 700 years.

The SkyJet will feature in the upcoming Luc Besson-directed sci-fi movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Lexus, says Besson, was chosen to design the craft being as it is a future-focused firm and one given to innovation and working with new technology.

The aim was to create to vehicle that looks as though it could be from the Valerian future, but that is grounded in reality. The result is a streamlined, tubular craft that tapers towards the rear jet, with two pairs of side-mounted wings, two additional pairs of wings mounted to its underside and a top-mounted rear fin. What appear to be large air inlets can be seen on the sides and the pilot is seated in a cockpit with near-panoramic views out of the craft.

Lexus Chief Engineer Takeaki Kato and his design team met with the movie's creative team to discuss the vehicle's styling and design cues. Among those that are rooted in today's reality are the headlights, which are inspired by those of the LC coupe, and an interpretation of Lexus's signature mesh grille. It's even badged as a Lexus.

The SkyJet features headlights inspired by those of the Lexus LC coupe and an interpretation of Lexus's signature mesh grille
The SkyJet features headlights inspired by those of the Lexus LC coupe and an interpretation of Lexus's signature mesh grille

"As fans of films and Luc's previous work, Lexus is privileged to help bring Luc's dream to life," says David Nordstrom, Global Branding Department General Manager at Lexus. "We enjoyed the challenge of bringing Lexus' design philosophy and technology innovations to this project."

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is based on the French graphic novel series Valérian and Laureline. The film follows a pair of special government operatives working to maintain order of the human territories in a sprawling universe.

The SkyJet isn't Lexus's first movie vehicle, with it having previously designed a car driven by Tom Cruise's character in Minority Report.

The video below is the trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, with a fleeting glimpse of the SkyJet at 1:17.

Source: Lexus


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11 comments
phissith
Why do you need wings in space? For return trip? Where the heat shield?
Anne Ominous
Also scoops. Love to see scoops on the side.
I wonder what they imagine they would be scooping.
Luke George
You fellas beat me to it. Lots of inlets to capture all of the microscopic space debris, and wings that will unlikely provide any lift whatsoever. It also appears to have no landing gear of it's own, so good luck touching down anywhere that isn't Mos Eisley - Oh wait, that was just a whole in the ground too..........with more realistic and yet also more inspiring space ships.
dugnology
I'm glad to see that Lexus will put the world's ugliest radiator grill on their space ships too. I also like the name "Sky Jet". It is funny because it will not be in the sky, and jets won't work there.
Grainpaw
It's science fiction. Remember to suspend your disbelief. Obviously this looks like magic to chemical-rocket era primitives. Pursuit could involve dipping into the atmosphere or even landing on a planet. The heat shield is likely some kind of force field, and the landing gear would be an anti-gravity device.
SamiraPeri
Oh look, a Saud Kruger ship!
Douglas Bennett Rogers
Need to see! A little cartoonie. Has a good sci fi mood w. good background music. I liked the Firefly model because it didn't have any magical crutches. Well, they did have unexplained space ship gravity. The vehicle is a Lexus placement ad and is intended to be more fun than serious. We have gotten used to science fiction aliens and have forgotten how profound actual contact would be.
ljaques
OK, not the prettiest face, but that can be changed. The wings are for power storage for the gravitic cannons, one each forward and rear. I'd like forward and rear mounted yottawatt laser cannons and kinetic weapons, please. Also, the deluxe sensor package, antimatter jump drive, anti-grav (with parking package), dodecahedral tractor beam pack, and Iridium armor (in case the multi-phasic stealth shields fail.) The sky and space are dangerous places. Scoops would be for gathering hydrogen from gas giants, but the antimatter pods replace those old and outdated modes of propulsion. I'll need Galactic Marine armor, complete with multi-weapon pack, to go with that. An armed space is a polite space.
Stephen N Russell
Love the design but posters have some points IE Heat shield & fold wings for use in Space & those darn scoops. If 700 yrs ahead would NOT need scoops for oxygen Then with Tech Then.
Delan@Gono
I don't understand why you guys are complaining. The jet will only be ready in 700yrs and by then the they would have done a lot of tests on it... And at least they have made a significant scientific and technical improvement... What have you done?
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