Abstract—Space is the frontier of the future, bringing new adventure to a new type of pioneer. Technology is the gateway to this un-chartered territory and will allow the senior design class to explore and obtain a glimpse of space though a balloon-borne high altitude satellite. In this paper I am going to describe about the innovative methods of designing the Balloon satellites and their applications. Ballon satellites can be described as the cost-effective satellites (< 819 USD) that could be launched using helium balloons. The satellite will be a facility that can provide common services to an altitude of till 30 km. The data will be relayed to a ground system where the information will be analysed, displayed, and used to track and recover the system. This balloon satellites fitted with orient able propellers at the bottom, fitted with cameras can be used for spying, patrolling at the defence areas similar to UAV's. Weather changes in the atmosphere can be continuously monitored using these satellites. The satellite shall broadcast real-time data, which shall include temperature, pressure, position, humidity, altitude etc. When these satellites reach near space, the helium filled balloon bursts because of expansion inside the balloon, at that point of time when a propulsion engine is used to propel it into the space, saving the cost for rockets. Moreover, the satellite shall be reusable and will be tracked back using a parachute for inter space missions and thus being eco-friendly.

Index Terms—balloon-borne high altitude satellite, cost-effective satellites, weather monitoring, spying, UAV’s

Cite: Rahul Munagala, "Space Ballooning," Jounal of Automation and Control Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 294-298, August, 2015. doi: 10.12720/joace.3.4.294-298