flying multiple flights, researchers may be able to achieve their goals with a single
long-duration flight. This capability will also enable experiments requiring longterm exposure, which are currently very difficult to achieve.”
In addition to saving time, cost, and complexity for science missions, the value
beyond payload testing is clear. “Instead of sending an aircraft over a hurricane,
you can use trajectory control on a Stratollite to hover above the hurricane and
monitor it constantly as it evolves,” Beveridge pointed out. “You can also use it for
forest fire tracking, disaster relief efforts, maritime surveillance, or possibly homeland security missions.”
One of World View’s early opportunities to demonstrate its capabilities was a
mission on behalf of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, CO,
sponsored by the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. On September 26, 2017
the team launched its Stratollite high altitude balloon system from McCall,
ID. Onboard was the High Altitude Electromagnetic Sounding of Earth and
Planetary Interiors experiment for which Robert Grimm of SwRI was principal
investigator. It reached an altitude of over 30.5 km (100,000 ft) and addressed
questions about the evolution of Earth and other planets by measuring how electromagnetic waves penetrate the surface. Perhaps this technology will be included
on a future mission to the perpetually cloud-enshrouded planet Venus.
World View is continuing development of this ground-breaking capability, with
more flights scheduled to assess mission scenarios, longer durations, and higher
altitudes. The flight manifest for 2018 included an increasing number of payload
providers interested in this platform capability.
The Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA selects promising technologies from industry, academia and government, and creates opportunities for testing and technology demonstration using commercial launch vehicles.
The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight
Research Center in Edwards, CA and its task is to develop the crosscutting, pioneering new technologies and capabilities that the Agency will need to achieve its
current and future missions.
For more information about the Flight Opportunities program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/flightopportunities
One key factor towards making Stratollites more commercially viable is ensuring
they can spend a long time in the stratosphere without coming down prematurely.
To that end, in 2019 the company completed a long duration mission of 16 days
continuously in flight. A few months later, in October it doubled that duration to
32 days. The Stratollites generally operate between 15-23 km (50,000-75,000 ft)
in their ideal functional configuration. The company’s plan is to replace a lot of the
work currently done by low Earth orbit satellites, including high altitude site photography, and eventually even to ferry passengers to those lofty heights. See the
following section on Space Perspectives.
5.2 World View Enterprises 93
long-duration flight. This capability will also enable experiments requiring longterm exposure, which are currently very difficult to achieve.”
In addition to saving time, cost, and complexity for science missions, the value
beyond payload testing is clear. “Instead of sending an aircraft over a hurricane,
you can use trajectory control on a Stratollite to hover above the hurricane and
monitor it constantly as it evolves,” Beveridge pointed out. “You can also use it for
forest fire tracking, disaster relief efforts, maritime surveillance, or possibly homeland security missions.”
One of World View’s early opportunities to demonstrate its capabilities was a
mission on behalf of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, CO,
sponsored by the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. On September 26, 2017
the team launched its Stratollite high altitude balloon system from McCall,
ID. Onboard was the High Altitude Electromagnetic Sounding of Earth and
Planetary Interiors experiment for which Robert Grimm of SwRI was principal
investigator. It reached an altitude of over 30.5 km (100,000 ft) and addressed
questions about the evolution of Earth and other planets by measuring how electromagnetic waves penetrate the surface. Perhaps this technology will be included
on a future mission to the perpetually cloud-enshrouded planet Venus.
World View is continuing development of this ground-breaking capability, with
more flights scheduled to assess mission scenarios, longer durations, and higher
altitudes. The flight manifest for 2018 included an increasing number of payload
providers interested in this platform capability.
The Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA selects promising technologies from industry, academia and government, and creates opportunities for testing and technology demonstration using commercial launch vehicles.
The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight
Research Center in Edwards, CA and its task is to develop the crosscutting, pioneering new technologies and capabilities that the Agency will need to achieve its
current and future missions.
For more information about the Flight Opportunities program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/flightopportunities
One key factor towards making Stratollites more commercially viable is ensuring
they can spend a long time in the stratosphere without coming down prematurely.
To that end, in 2019 the company completed a long duration mission of 16 days
continuously in flight. A few months later, in October it doubled that duration to
32 days. The Stratollites generally operate between 15-23 km (50,000-75,000 ft)
in their ideal functional configuration. The company’s plan is to replace a lot of the
work currently done by low Earth orbit satellites, including high altitude site photography, and eventually even to ferry passengers to those lofty heights. See the
following section on Space Perspectives.
5.2 World View Enterprises 93