The Samsung Galaxy S II is ready to head off to near-space. Though not the first Android device to blasted off to several thousand meters up high into the atmosphere, we’re excited to see Samsung Japan’s and JP Aerospace’s event.

Ustream is covering the event live and has informed us that the space balloon will carry “messages of hope and wishes for Japan.” Seven “Galaxy Musicians” will be providing songs written originally for the space balloon project.

The balloon carrying the Samsung Galaxy S II will be throttling in the stratosphere for 90 minutes.

[Update 1] The Space Balloon team will be inflating the balloon in about ten minutes. They were a bit worried because of clouds partially covering the sky.

[Update 2] According to event organizers, the Samsung Galaxy S II on the balloon will display your messages of hope and wishes for Japan–live while it is flying in near-space. Tweet your messages in 18 characters or less to http://twitter.com/galaxy_japan

[Update 3] In case you were wondering, the space balloon is being launched from Nevada. As of this update, the sun is already rising on the horizon. The Space Balloon team is still filling up the balloon.

[Update 4] Ten-minutes before launch…and counting.

[Update 5] Balloon is still being inflated. Countdown going on. Repetitive guitar-strumming loop music playing in the background. Must be one of the original compositions of the 7 “Galaxy Musicians”?

[Update 6] And the Samsung Galaxy S II is up, up, and away in its beautiful balloon. Live tweeted messages of hope and wishes for Japan being shown live on the Galaxy S II’s screen.

[Update 7] Samsung Galaxy S II still rising. Currently at about 19,000 meters. Still displaying tweeted messages of hope and wishes for Japan. Messages are multilingual, mostly in Japanese.

[Update 8] Samsung Galaxy S II reaches about 30,000 meters (about 96,000 feet) and starts its fast descent. It landed successfully.

Here’s the live video feed of the event:

Live Video streaming by Ustream