For decades, scientific balloons have been a vital tool in space and atmospheric research, often deployed from planes or beneath satellites. Alan Stern, co-founder of the planetary science community and CEO of World View, a company affiliated with the Southwest Research Institute, emphasized that commercial balloon flights are opening up new frontiers in science. "They offer cost-effective solutions for monitoring natural disasters, studying Earth's geology, and even exploring Venus," he said.
(Original title: Scientific Balloons: Soaring Above Satellites and Planes - Commercial Companies Boost U.S. Orbital Research)
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Reporter Fang Linlin
While satellites provide global coverage, their resolution is often limited. In contrast, balloons can hover over specific regions for extended periods, offering detailed observations. Carl Scibitz, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, highlighted the importance of balloon-based observations, calling them "powerful tools" for scientific research.
This perspective was shared at the recent Next-Generation Suborbital Research Conference in Colorado. However, what has truly caught the attention of the industry is the rise of private companies like World View, which are delivering payloads to the stratosphere—between 16 and 30 kilometers high—quickly and at a fraction of the cost.
Private enterprises are significantly reducing the costs of scientific research. World View made waves in 2017 with its standardized Stratollite platform, a modular system that can carry multiple experiments. According to Stern, while NASA might charge over a million dollars for a single payload, using the Stratollite platform allows researchers to share costs, bringing it down to just tens of thousands.
Jane Porter, CEO of World View, announced in 2018 that the company aimed to launch four balloons per month, each carrying a Stratollite to the stratosphere. While the longest flight so far lasted five days, the company is working toward multi-week missions.
Robert Green, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, recently tested equipment on a balloon to simulate a potential Venus mission. He explained that Venus’s atmosphere is more suitable for balloon testing than Earth’s harsh conditions. Using a balloon provided by World View, the team flew from Idaho to Montana, measuring how equipment performed over granite-rich terrain. Such data could help understand Venus's geological features, and further tests are planned for May.
World View has also developed methods to keep balloons at a stable altitude. Since Hurricane Maria last year, the company has been testing balloons for internet connectivity in various regions.
NASA is actively developing long-term research platforms. Thomas Tseringer Chen, NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Science, acknowledged the value of World View’s technology but noted that NASA is also advancing next-generation balloon systems, including super-pressure balloons capable of flying for 100 days. These are ideal for long-term missions like astronomical observations, though they come with significant cost and technical challenges.
Adrien Haydoff, a planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida, sees great potential in stratospheric balloons for studying microgravity effects, such as how dust accumulates in low-gravity environments—key for lunar and planetary exploration. “My goal is to develop balloons that can conduct microgravity research, but we’re not there yet,†he said.
At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, engineers are looking ahead, hoping to use stratospheric balloons to detect low-frequency seismic signals on Earth, as a test for future missions to Venus. The future of balloon-based research continues to soar, blending innovation with practical science.
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