Global Aerospace Corporation is developing a revolutionary
concept for a global constellation and network of perhaps
hundreds of stratospheric superpressure balloons which
can address major scientific questions relating to NASA's
Earth Science Mission, by globally measuring stratospheric
gases, collecting data on atmospheric circulation, observing
the Earth's surface and detecting and monitoring environmental
hazards.
Such a system could replace satellites for making some
environmental measurements. The keys to this new concept
are:
- affordable, long-duration balloon systems,
- balloon trajectory control capability, and
- a global communications infrastructure.
In the nearly forty years since the launch of artificial
satellites, there has been a shift away from making
in-situ measurements of the global environment to remote
sensing from Earth orbiting spacecraft. Today, there
may be reason to challenge this remote sensing paradigm.
In combination, (a) the advance of electronics, communications
and balloon technologies, (b) the difficulty of doing
some remote sensing, and (c) the interest in simultaneous
measurement, argue for a reevaluation of the current
reliance on satellites for many global environmental
measurements.
Total system cost for a constellation may be quite
competitive with or even lower than spacecraft systems
due to the inherent high cost of getting to space. Balloon
systems will be less costly than spacecraft if they
have lifetimes measured on the order of years, reducing
the need for replacement or refurbishment. In-situ measurements
costs are coming down dramatically with the advance
of technology. In addition, the technology for very
long-duration and guided stratospheric balloons is now
beginning to be developed which will enable an affordable
global constellation of formation-flying, stratospheric
platforms.
Global Aerospace Corporation is developing the concept,
exploring additional applications and benefits, and
generating first order estimates of the cost of implementing
such a revolutionary system.
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