History

1958	The first Japanese-made planetarium, exhibited at Science Expo held at Hanshin Park.
	First Japanese-Made Planetarium After World War II, Chiyoda Optical Seiko Co., Ltd. (predecessor of Minolta Co., Ltd.) began immediately developing a Japanese planetarium projector. The first projector was manufactured in September 1958.
1963	Planetarium section established at the technical center of Minolta Camera Co., Ltd in Sakai, Osaka.
1970	“MS-15” installed in DeAnza and Foothill College at California, USA. The first Minolta Planetarium on American soil.
1985	The new generation of planetarium “INFINIUM” exhibited at Tsukuba Science Expo ’85.
	INFINIUM The INFINIUM was the world's first successful space simulator using a single-globe, single-lamp, star plate projection system. After its premier at the Tsukuba Science Expo '85, it was transformed into a permanent facility at the Tsukuba Expo Center.
1988	To meet the growing planetarium market and the needs of consumers, Minolta Planetarium Co., Ltd. was established.
1994	The small optical projector simulating space travel “COSMOLEAP” installed in Sanyo Girls’ Senior High School at Hiroshima.
1994	The first planetarium to combine an optical star projector, the “INFINIUM α”, with a fulldome digital projector premiered at the 1994 IPS Conference in Cocoa, Florida, USA.
1997	The first “GEMINISTAR”, the world’s first integrated planetarium installed in Discovery Park Yaizu at Shizuoka.
2001	The world’s first full-color, single-projector digital planetarium “MEDIAGLOBE” installed in Kazuaki Iwasaki Space Art Gallery at Shizuoka.
	MEDIAGLOBE The MEDIAGLOBE was the world’s first fulldome, full-color, single-projector, single-lens digital planetarium that combined sky functions with built-in audio and multimedia projection capabilities.
2003	Company name changed to Konica Minolta Planetarium Co., Ltd. as a company group of Konica Minolta, Inc.
2004	Re-opened “Sunshine Planetarium” under direct management, currently named Konica Minolta Planetarium “MANTEN” in Sunshine City.
2008	Development and sales of “SUPER MEDIAGLOBE-II”, a 2.4K resolution single-projector digital planetarium.
2012	Opening of the Konica Minolta Planetarium “TENKU” in TOKYO SKYTREE TOWN® as a second direct management planetarium theater.
2015	Development and sales of the “Media Globe Σ (Sigma)” and “Infinium Σ (Sigma)”, start of the new “Σ” series of digital and optical planetarium projectors.