Project Stratum
What is Project Stratum?
Project Stratum is a high altitude balloon project capable of reaching altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet above ground level. It will carry two sophisticated payloads. One of the payloads comprised of an eight processor microcontroller, will be the intelligence controlling and monitoring the flight and will act as our ‘eyes in the sky’. It will continuously transmit vital information such as latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, bearing and internal and external temperatures and it is able to perform necessary safety operations as required by the FAA. Project Stratum’s second payload is the primary reason for this project. It consists of a light weight, remotely controlled aircraft capable of reaching speeds in excess of 125mph under its own power. The aircraft’s on-board flight system will give it the capability to navigate itself back down to earth and return to the launch site without the need of a human pilot.
How will this work?
Our team will deploy the high altitude balloon along with its two payloads to above 100,000 feet, well into the Stratosphere. Once the balloon has reached our target altitude, the flight control payload will release the aircraft upon our command. Once the aircraft has been released, the onboard flight system will immediately begin to guide the aircraft back to its point of origin. When the aircraft arrives back to the launch site one of our flight team members will pilot the aircraft safely back down to earth using an onboard video camera. During this time our ‘eyes in the sky’ payload should be falling back down to earth assisted by a parachute and transmitting its GPS location as well as a beacon signal for tracking by our ground chase teams.
Will this be recorded?
The ‘eyes in the sky’ payload will have two high definition cameras on-board recording every step of the mission. The aircraft payload will have its own flight camera delivering real time video back down to earth along with a high definition camera to record the flight in the highest quality possible. The aircraft’s on-board flight system will transmit a live video feed back down to earth. There will possibly be a live video feed from the flight control system as well.
What technologies are going to be used?
Our team has been to be able to work with companies such as Eagle Tree Systems LLC on the aircraft’s flight system, LiveStream.com for the live broadcast of the flight and several others to come. Our in-house engineer Tony Eck has completely designed the ‘eyes in the sky’ on-board flight system. Mike Fisher another great engineer has provided the technologies necessary to maintain our battery system at operating temperatures. Bill Corbett is the Eagle Tree Systems, LLC products expert and has worked testing new products for many years.
What are the challenges involved in the flight?
Project Stratum will reach an altitude that is over 99% vacuum. Temperatures will exceed 60 degrees below zero. Both payloads will have to be able to function in this harsh environment. When the plane is released in this vacuum, it will fall at speeds over 150mph until it reaches an altitude where the atmosphere becomes dense enough for the control surfaces of the plane to gain control and stabilize itself and begin its flight back to earth.
How can the aircraft payload be controlled from so far away?
Should our ground team ever need to manually pilot the aircraft the on-board radio control system is specifically designed for long range applications.
