companies in launch operations. Owned by Steven Peterzen, ISTAR has been
involved in setting up field camps in remote locations such as the Siple Coast,
Concordia Station and Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, the middle of the Greenland
Ice Sheet, the North Slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska, Norway, and Brazil. It
also handles the logistical and safety concerns relating to getting into and out of
frigid and remote locations.
The first balloon campaign in 1991 was directly in support of the NASA funded
ozone investigation at the NSF field office in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, with a
team from Harvard University. In 1992 the company became the manager of the
NASA funded stratospheric balloon program in Antarctica. From 1992 through
2001, it managed over 20 separate 800,000 m
3
(28 million ft
3
) balloon launches
from Antarctica as well as a series of smaller balloons. During that time, it also
managed and led the recovery team of the payloads and flight hardware. These
large balloons used a proprietary film called Stratofilm-450, weighed 1,675 kg
(3,693 lb) and had a lift capacity up to 2,948 kg (6,500 lb) and a nominal float
altitude of 37 km (122,300 ft).
5.8.1 Long Duration Balloon Program
In 2001, ISTAR was contacted by the Italian Space Agency to manage and lead
the development of the first Long Duration Balloon Program in Europe through
the Universitá di Roma La Sapienza. With the newly formed Nobile/Amundsen
Stratospheric Balloon Center (SBC) in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen the company
selected Svalbard in Norway for the launch site. It has made 17 launches since
2003, including the very successful 2009 launch of the Sounding Radar (SORA)
experiment with 4 piggyback payloads on a 800,000 m
3
(28 million ft
3
) balloon.
ISTAR conducted the launch operations (without an experienced crew) and then
traveled to Baffin Island, Canada to recover the payload.
5.8.2 Circumpolar Flight
Right from the start of the Nobile/Amundsen SBC in Svalbard, ISTAR took a
primary interest in developing this program to make use of smaller balloons to
carry science experiments, give commercial access to near space, and open an
avenue to introduce students to near-space research. In June of 2006, ISTAR
launched the first circumpolar balloon flight of the northern polar region from
Svalbard carrying the Polar Explore for Geomagnetism And other Scientific
Observations (PEGASO) experiment, which measured the flux of the Earth’s
magnetic field. Over 14 days the balloon made a near perfect circle around the
North Pole and landed in Greenland north of Thule.
5.8 ISTAR 111
involved in setting up field camps in remote locations such as the Siple Coast,
Concordia Station and Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, the middle of the Greenland
Ice Sheet, the North Slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska, Norway, and Brazil. It
also handles the logistical and safety concerns relating to getting into and out of
frigid and remote locations.
The first balloon campaign in 1991 was directly in support of the NASA funded
ozone investigation at the NSF field office in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, with a
team from Harvard University. In 1992 the company became the manager of the
NASA funded stratospheric balloon program in Antarctica. From 1992 through
2001, it managed over 20 separate 800,000 m
3
(28 million ft
3
) balloon launches
from Antarctica as well as a series of smaller balloons. During that time, it also
managed and led the recovery team of the payloads and flight hardware. These
large balloons used a proprietary film called Stratofilm-450, weighed 1,675 kg
(3,693 lb) and had a lift capacity up to 2,948 kg (6,500 lb) and a nominal float
altitude of 37 km (122,300 ft).
5.8.1 Long Duration Balloon Program
In 2001, ISTAR was contacted by the Italian Space Agency to manage and lead
the development of the first Long Duration Balloon Program in Europe through
the Universitá di Roma La Sapienza. With the newly formed Nobile/Amundsen
Stratospheric Balloon Center (SBC) in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen the company
selected Svalbard in Norway for the launch site. It has made 17 launches since
2003, including the very successful 2009 launch of the Sounding Radar (SORA)
experiment with 4 piggyback payloads on a 800,000 m
3
(28 million ft
3
) balloon.
ISTAR conducted the launch operations (without an experienced crew) and then
traveled to Baffin Island, Canada to recover the payload.
5.8.2 Circumpolar Flight
Right from the start of the Nobile/Amundsen SBC in Svalbard, ISTAR took a
primary interest in developing this program to make use of smaller balloons to
carry science experiments, give commercial access to near space, and open an
avenue to introduce students to near-space research. In June of 2006, ISTAR
launched the first circumpolar balloon flight of the northern polar region from
Svalbard carrying the Polar Explore for Geomagnetism And other Scientific
Observations (PEGASO) experiment, which measured the flux of the Earth’s
magnetic field. Over 14 days the balloon made a near perfect circle around the
North Pole and landed in Greenland north of Thule.
5.8 ISTAR 111