To be eligible, teams must consist of students enrolled in universities from ESA
Member States or Associate States. The teams judged to have submitted the best
proposals are then invited to attend a selection workshop at the European Space
Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, ESA’s principal
technology development and test center, where they introduce their project to a
panel of experts and justify why it should be chosen to fly. An experiment must
show scientific or technological value; a high likelihood of success; educational
value; and justify the need for a stratospheric balloon or a sounding rocket flight.
Past experiments have featured areas of investigation ranging from atmospheric
measurements to microgravity experiments, technology demonstrators aimed at
future space missions, and even biological sciences. See Chapter 10 for further
information.
9.3.6 Thales Alenia/Hispasat/Leonardo
The French-Italian aerospace company Thales Alenia Space is the largest satellite
manufacturer based in Europe. It is the second largest industrial participant in the
International Space Station (ISS), having made some of the pressurized modules
for the ISS. It is also producing satellites for Galileo, a European Global Satellite
Navigation System. It is jointly owned by the Italian defense giant Leonardo and
French defense electronics specialist Thales Group. One of the projects at Thales
Alenia Space is the future full-scale stratospheric airship, Stratobus.
Hispasat is the operating company for Spanish communications satellites which
cover the Americas, Europe and North Africa from geostationary slots at 30°W
and 61°W. Working with Thales Alenia Space, it conducted a demonstration in
Spain to show direct communications between 4G/5G smartphones and a HAPS
stratospheric balloon belonging to the Spanish company Zero 2 Infinity.
9.3.7 The Netherlands
The Netherlands Institute for Space Research (branded as SRON) is the Dutch
national expertise institute for scientific space research. It is part of Netherlands
Organization for Scientific Research. It was founded by university groups in the
early 1960’s. Since then it has often had a role in providing key contributions to
instruments on missions of the major space agencies ESA, NASA, and JAXA.
These contributions have enabled the national and international space-research
communities to explore the universe and to investigate the Earth’s atmosphere and
climate.
SRON is the main institute for Dutch contributions to the scientific payloads for
the “mandatory” missions in the ESA Science Program. The Delft University of
Technology, known as TU-Delft, has teamed with the University of Arizona for
the GUSTO scientific balloon project, supplying co-investigator Jian-Rong Gao
and other scientists.
220 The Balloon World
Member States or Associate States. The teams judged to have submitted the best
proposals are then invited to attend a selection workshop at the European Space
Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, ESA’s principal
technology development and test center, where they introduce their project to a
panel of experts and justify why it should be chosen to fly. An experiment must
show scientific or technological value; a high likelihood of success; educational
value; and justify the need for a stratospheric balloon or a sounding rocket flight.
Past experiments have featured areas of investigation ranging from atmospheric
measurements to microgravity experiments, technology demonstrators aimed at
future space missions, and even biological sciences. See Chapter 10 for further
information.
9.3.6 Thales Alenia/Hispasat/Leonardo
The French-Italian aerospace company Thales Alenia Space is the largest satellite
manufacturer based in Europe. It is the second largest industrial participant in the
International Space Station (ISS), having made some of the pressurized modules
for the ISS. It is also producing satellites for Galileo, a European Global Satellite
Navigation System. It is jointly owned by the Italian defense giant Leonardo and
French defense electronics specialist Thales Group. One of the projects at Thales
Alenia Space is the future full-scale stratospheric airship, Stratobus.
Hispasat is the operating company for Spanish communications satellites which
cover the Americas, Europe and North Africa from geostationary slots at 30°W
and 61°W. Working with Thales Alenia Space, it conducted a demonstration in
Spain to show direct communications between 4G/5G smartphones and a HAPS
stratospheric balloon belonging to the Spanish company Zero 2 Infinity.
9.3.7 The Netherlands
The Netherlands Institute for Space Research (branded as SRON) is the Dutch
national expertise institute for scientific space research. It is part of Netherlands
Organization for Scientific Research. It was founded by university groups in the
early 1960’s. Since then it has often had a role in providing key contributions to
instruments on missions of the major space agencies ESA, NASA, and JAXA.
These contributions have enabled the national and international space-research
communities to explore the universe and to investigate the Earth’s atmosphere and
climate.
SRON is the main institute for Dutch contributions to the scientific payloads for
the “mandatory” missions in the ESA Science Program. The Delft University of
Technology, known as TU-Delft, has teamed with the University of Arizona for
the GUSTO scientific balloon project, supplying co-investigator Jian-Rong Gao
and other scientists.
220 The Balloon World