Can Goku Survive in Space? (& How)

One of the things that we have seen in the entire Dragon Ball anime is the fact that Goku and his enemies often fight in areas well above ground level because they need to stay away from populated areas. Of course, we have seen him battling Beerus well above the Earth’s atmosphere during the beginning of the Dragon Bal Super anime. So, does that mean that Goku can survive in space?

Goku can survive in space, but he still needs oxygen to survive for a long time. That means that he may be able to stay in space for a while before succumbing to a lack of oxygen. As such, he cannot stay in space for long periods of time because the Saiyans, no matter how strong they are, still require oxygen.

Yes, Goku is indeed a godlike being in terms of his power, but he is still very much mortal and is still a biological being that needs to meet the biological demands of his body. That means that considering that Saiyans are human-like in their basic biological needs, they need oxygen to survive the vacuum of space. Now, let’s talk more about Goku and whether or not he could survive outer space.

Can Goku Survive In Space?

It has always been clear that Goku has reached levels of power that have crossed the divine in the sense that he is basically a god when it comes to how strong he is. Despite being mortal, he is already just as strong as the weakest God of Destruction and may even become as powerful as an Angel in the future, especially after he mastered Ultra Instinct.

Nevertheless, what we did notice about Goku is the fact that he seems to still be mortal and human-like in terms of his biological needs. He may be a powerful being as far as his strength is concerned, but we have seen time and time again that he is still mortal in the sense that he can still die, go hungry, or even drown. That means that Goku is only godlike in terms of his power but still has the biology of a mortal human being.

With that in mind, we have seen Goku prioritizing the safety of people in his fights as he almost always asks his opponents if they could fight in a place that’s far away from any populated areas so that they could avoid casualties or collateral damage. And this is where it gets interesting because we did see him fight Beerus well above Earth’s ground level in Dragon Ball Super. So, does this mean that Goku can survive in space?

Back in the events of the original Dragon Ball Z, Frieza threatened to destroy the entire planet of Namek because he knew that Goku could not survive in space while his race could. That was when he used his power to initiate the planet’s steady destruction as a last-ditch effort because he knew that he couldn’t defeat Goku, and that was why he resorted to allowing the vacuum of space to kill him.

Of course, Goku also understood this because he actually tried his best to escape the planet through any of the ships that he could find. In that regard, he himself knew that it was going to be impossible for him to survive the vacuum of space. But why were we able to see him and other Saiyans in outer space during certain periods of the anime?

Well, for starters, it is possible that Goku can survive outer space for a short period of time before his body requires him to once again breathe oxygen. Of course, during the moments that we saw Goku and other Saiyans in outer space, they aren’t necessarily in outer space but are simply far above their planet’s atmosphere.

That means that there is a chance that they were still breathing air while they were above their planet’s atmosphere because they are strong enough to be able to survive as long as there is still a small concentration of oxygen. However, once they are far away from any atmosphere and are already in the vacuum of space, that is already when it becomes impossible for Goku and the other Saiyans to survive. This also explains why Broly and Paragus were trapped in Vampa for decades until one of Frieza’s henchmen found them on that planet.

So, in a sense, Goku can survive in outer space but probably for only a short while. And that means that it would be impossible for him to fight in outer space or travel from one planet to another without a ship because that would require him to stay in the vacuum of space for extended periods of time without oxygen.

How Does Goku Survive In Space?

As mentioned, Goku still needs oxygen to survive because the biological requirements of a Saiyan don’t seem to be too different from what humans require in the sense that they still need air to survive.

However, Goku may be able to survive in space if he were to battle close to Earth, where he can still breathe in air from the atmosphere, even if the air is already thin well above the planet. However, it is possible that he won’t be able to survive once he attempts to fight far from the planet.

Of course, Goku would need to wear a space suit that provides him the oxygen he needs to survive extended periods of time in outer space. This may only be necessary if he is traveling from one planet to another without the use of a ship and by relying on his own flight capabilities. However, in a fight, it might not be possible for him to stay in outer space while wearing a space suit because of the fact that it would eventually get destroyed.

In all other cases, Goku would have to ascend to the level of a god not only in terms of his power but also in terms of his physiology if he wants to survive in outer space. He would have to shed his mortal form to be able to breathe in the vacuum of space, just like how Beerus and Whis do, considering that they are divine immortal beings.