ALTADENA, CA – At the annual meeting of the Global Disaster Information Network in Rome, Italy last month, Global Aerospace Corporation introduced a new type of satellite that can provide communications and remote sensing data for disasters in remote areas of the world with no technological infrastructure.
The new satellites, Stratospheric Satellites, consist of NASA-developed “super-pressure balloons” that fly at 110,000 feet, combined with steering systems and a solar array used for power. They can carry remote sensing or telecommunications payloads up to 2000 kg, roughly the size and weight of a small truck. According to Dr. Alexey Pankine, a CalTech PhD and Project Scientist at Global Aerospace, “The super-pressure balloon component of the Stratospheric Satellite was flown successfully in a short NASA test flight on June 6, 2000.”