Zaturn, Roller coaster in Yahatahigashi, Kitakyushu, Japan
Zaturn was a steel launched roller coaster at Space World in Kitakyushu, built by Intamin as an Accelerator Coaster. A hydraulic launch propelled the train from 0 to 129 km/h in 2.3 seconds, up a 63-meter tower with an 88.9-degree drop. The 400-meter track ended after a camelback, and the ride lasted about 40 seconds.
Zaturn opened at Space World in Kitakyushu on 29 April 2006 as an Intamin Accelerator Coaster, launched by a hydraulic catapult. It closed with the park on 31 December 2017. The track was later found at the Golden City site in Russia, where assembly stalled after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The name brings together Saturn, the planet, with a turning motion, reflecting how the ride departs from and returns to where it started. Visitors experience this concept directly as they board and the journey unfolds.
Riders must be at least 130 cm and under 190 cm tall; anyone whose height is borderline is not allowed to board. Loose items and pocket contents are banned, and lockers at the station take a 100-yen coin, returned afterwards. The first straight delivers strong g-forces, so raising your hands is forbidden.
The station is themed as a treatment room for "GNS" (Genki Naqnaru Syokogun, a fictional space sickness), so the whole ride is dressed like a hospital. Before launch, a buzzer and a heartbeat at resting pulse rate play, and the crew call "Alpha Bravo Standby" — Alpha and Bravo being the two platform staff who, with the operator, had to press the launch buttons together.
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