“This really is an enabling technology and platform for testing science payloads,” said Iain Beveridge, World View’s principal investigator. “A lot of payloads may be interested in altitude control so they can put their payloads in the
stratosphere and gather data continuously. We call it persistent coverage over an
area.” World View has been persistent in its development of the altitude control
technology as just one component in a complex network of advances comprising
its Stratollite system. For large portions of the year they were able to sustain coverage within about 100 miles of a target in order to keep instruments looking at
that specific point.
During the 2017 demonstrations on the Stratollite, all proposed success criteria
were met. These criteria included demonstrating altitude changes, maintaining
altitude levels during periods of both high and low solar elevation, and proving the
system could perform station keeping over a 24 hour flight.
“Our last Stratollite mission was a massive win for World View and completed
another successful milestone in the development of the Stratollite,” Beveridge
pointed out. “As far as I know, this is the first high altitude balloon vehicle to perform a controlled altitude change of this magnitude within the stratosphere.”
The 27 hour flight from Page, AZ continued into California before maneuvering into westerly winds to head back to Arizona. In addition to achieving its primary objectives the vehicle also performed a large altitude excursion of 25,000
feet, a program that was limited only by the commercial airspace ceiling. The
flight test pushed the Stratollite technology readiness level (TRL) to 9 (the highest
level of maturity).
With development dating back to 2012, the Stratollite’s altitude control system
is the product of extensive research into state of the art techniques for traversing
the stratosphere while catching the varying directions of the winds required by
flights throughout the year.
“One of the biggest advantages we now have over other systems is that we have
a vast altitude range for station keeping,” Beveridge said. “It is more difficult the
higher you go because of the density of the air, but based on our testing it does
look like our system will go 90K feet or above, and then still be able to perform
down to the range 50,000 to 60,000 feet.”
By making meaningful shifts between altitudes as needed for a given trajectory,
World View’s system may be able to support much longer balloon missions than
previously possible. “The end goal is to be able to fly these for 6, 9, or even 12
months at a time,” Beveridge said. “So researchers can gather 6 months of data
and have a very high level of confidence that their system is going to work.”
The implications for scientific payload testing are significant. The operational
cost of such flights is less than 1% of the cost of sending the payloads to space.
To Paul De León, campaign manager of NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program,
this technology has the potential to make missions more efficient. “Rather than
92 Commercial Corporations and Applications
stratosphere and gather data continuously. We call it persistent coverage over an
area.” World View has been persistent in its development of the altitude control
technology as just one component in a complex network of advances comprising
its Stratollite system. For large portions of the year they were able to sustain coverage within about 100 miles of a target in order to keep instruments looking at
that specific point.
During the 2017 demonstrations on the Stratollite, all proposed success criteria
were met. These criteria included demonstrating altitude changes, maintaining
altitude levels during periods of both high and low solar elevation, and proving the
system could perform station keeping over a 24 hour flight.
“Our last Stratollite mission was a massive win for World View and completed
another successful milestone in the development of the Stratollite,” Beveridge
pointed out. “As far as I know, this is the first high altitude balloon vehicle to perform a controlled altitude change of this magnitude within the stratosphere.”
The 27 hour flight from Page, AZ continued into California before maneuvering into westerly winds to head back to Arizona. In addition to achieving its primary objectives the vehicle also performed a large altitude excursion of 25,000
feet, a program that was limited only by the commercial airspace ceiling. The
flight test pushed the Stratollite technology readiness level (TRL) to 9 (the highest
level of maturity).
With development dating back to 2012, the Stratollite’s altitude control system
is the product of extensive research into state of the art techniques for traversing
the stratosphere while catching the varying directions of the winds required by
flights throughout the year.
“One of the biggest advantages we now have over other systems is that we have
a vast altitude range for station keeping,” Beveridge said. “It is more difficult the
higher you go because of the density of the air, but based on our testing it does
look like our system will go 90K feet or above, and then still be able to perform
down to the range 50,000 to 60,000 feet.”
By making meaningful shifts between altitudes as needed for a given trajectory,
World View’s system may be able to support much longer balloon missions than
previously possible. “The end goal is to be able to fly these for 6, 9, or even 12
months at a time,” Beveridge said. “So researchers can gather 6 months of data
and have a very high level of confidence that their system is going to work.”
The implications for scientific payload testing are significant. The operational
cost of such flights is less than 1% of the cost of sending the payloads to space.
To Paul De León, campaign manager of NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program,
this technology has the potential to make missions more efficient. “Rather than
92 Commercial Corporations and Applications