Bi-directional Platform for data collection up to the Mesosphere

SpaceLoon is developing a novel Controlled Altitude Ballooning (CAB) platform to perform bi-directional sampling across multiple atmospheric layers, from the troposphere to the mesosphere. To date, state-of-the-art high-altitude platforms are limited to the stratosphere. National Weather Service (NWS), twice a day, globally uses unidirectional radiosonde and rawinsonde platforms for recording weather observations, creating a void in atmospheric observations on a daily time scale and at altitude scale. With five times increased observation at two times higher altitudes, CAB will enable new climate observing and monitoring capabilities and dramatically improve forecast modeling. SpaceLoon’s patent-pending CAB technology is a hardware and software combination that alters and controls the balloon size within its burst limits, enabling the balloon’s expansion and contraction multiple times in a single flight. CAB facilitates controlled ascent and descent throughout the atmosphere from the ground to the mesosphere. As opposed to conventional assumptions, the ascent rate changes with altitude and is correlated with the energy state and power management of the balloon. In Phase-I, we achieved CAB’s control alteration capability for flight ascent profile, collecting atmospheric dynamic and thermodynamic measurements. In Phase-II, we will achieve control descent capability with flight recovery and perform mesospheric (>50 km) test flights. The proposed Phase-II research will result in a market-ready operational platform for novel measurement capabilities from the ground to the mesosphere above 50 km. Phase-II activities will build on the laboratory and field testing conducted in Phase-I, maturing our technology to be highly reliable and fully recoverable. Toward the end of PhaseII, we anticipate CAB carrying a payload of more than 3 kg. In a typical use scenario, the balloon will follow a defined profile during flight transport. The attached payload will collect the atmospheric observations along the flight path, and then completing the profile will bring the payload back to the ground. CAB will follow the profile pattern by performing controlled ascent to altitudes of more than 50 km followed by altitude descent of more than 10 km in one cycle. We anticipate CAB will perform three such cycles of controlled ascent and descent in a single flight and then, with complete control descent, bring down the attached payload to the ground safely. We anticipate the flights will be fully recoverable and retrievable.