In shut collaboration with strategic companions like NASA and CNES, Swedish House Company (SSC) is launching a document quantity of eight stratospheric balloons this summer season. The biggest one measures thrice the dimensions of the Globe (Avicii Area) in Stockholm, and can fly excessive above the Atlantic to a protected touchdown in Canada.
These are hectic occasions on the Esrange House Middle exterior Kiruna in northern Sweden. A complete of eight stratospheric balloons – 5 transatlantic, two stationary and one scholar balloon – will probably be launched from Esrange inside a matter of weeks. A document in each numbers and volumes, with a number of of them being stadium-sized.
“SSC is proud to supply this top-of-the-line service for launching stratospheric balloons from the Esrange. Years of strategic collaboration with, amongst others, famend companions reminiscent of NASA and CNES, grants us with huge expertise and experience, and places SSC on the very high of worldwide ballooning. By no means earlier than has this many balloons been launched in such a short while body. And by no means have they been this massive,” says Charlotta Sund, CEO of SSC.
The bigger, transatlantic balloons will fly from Sweden and land in Canada after as much as per week within the air. The analysis carried out on these balloons embrace cosmic ray, X-ray astronomy, and photo voltaic observations – offering elementary analysis such because the origin of the Universe.
The strategic location is essential to NASA and CNES
It’s no coincidence that balloon operations thrive within the northernmost a part of Sweden. Located north of the Arctic Circle, the sparsely populated space is exclusive in some ways. The launch space is strategically positioned by way of stratospheric winds and with entry to the midnight solar throughout spring and summer season. Below fixed daylight, the modifications in stress contained in the balloons might be saved to a minimal. Moreover, flying balloons from Esrange in a westerly route offers a novel alternative to soundly launch and fly long-duration missions for a number of days within the northern hemisphere.
“Each launch we do is exclusive and thrilling, and we’re thrilled to have our first profitable launch for the season now that the wind patterns are aligned to satisfy our mission wants. This long-duration functionality is essential to our science missions, as they collect a large amount of knowledge over the course of 1 flight”, says Andrew Hamilton, Appearing Director of NASA’s Balloon Program Workplace.
“For a number of a long time, CNES has been finishing up many stratospheric balloon flights from the Esrange base for French and European laboratories. The approaching marketing campaign contains our first transatlantic flight between Sweden and north Canada. After 2 years of technical work, we are actually prepared for this new problem,” says Stéphane Louvel, Balloon marketing campaign supervisor at CNES.
NASA balloon missions
HELIX: A robust superconducting magnet will measure the flux of high-energy cosmic ray isotopes. This may assist decide the age of cosmic rays in our galaxy. Launched on the 28th of Could, the three,402 kg payload flies on a 970,000 m3 balloon at 36 km altitude.
BOOMS: A high-resolution imager of X-rays from energetic electron microbursts that seem within the polar environment. The 748 kg payload will fly on a 1,7 million m3 balloon at 47 km altitude – the most important balloon ever at Esrange.
SUNRISE-III: A photo voltaic observatory that takes high-resolution photos and spectro-polarimetry of layers of the Solar, and on lively areas of the Solar to measure magnetic area, temperature, and velocities. The three,515 kg payload will fly on a 970,000 m3 balloon at 36 km altitude.
XL-Calibur: A telescope that can observe a pattern of galactic black gap and neutron star sources to achieve new insights on how these objects speed up electrons and emit X-rays. The two,722 kg payload will fly on a 1,12 million m3 balloon at 38 km altitude.
Learn extra about NASA’s summer season balloons >>
CNES balloon missions
TRANSAT: A balloon mission consisting of a complete of 9 totally different scientific experiments, specializing in focus of greenhouse gases. The 890 kg payload will fly on a 800,000 m3 balloon at 40 km altitude.
ATMOSFER: A balloon mission consisting of a complete of 4 totally different scientific experiments, specializing in atmospheric chemistry and aerosol measurements. The 553 kg payload will fly on a 150,000 m3 balloon at 33 km altitude.
SAPHERALLER: A balloon mission consisting of a complete of twelve totally different scientific experiments, specializing in composition of clouds. The 250 kg payload will fly on a 100,000 m3 balloon particularly at 18 km altitude.
Learn extra about CNES’ summer season balloons >>
Scholar balloon mission
EXPLORA: Launched on the 27th of Could, that is by far the smallest out of the eight balloons. The payload will research local weather change by conducting measurements within the environment. Behind this marketing campaign are the House Excessive Faculty in Kiruna, and Lycée de l’Espace from Toulouse, France.
About Swedish House Company
Swedish House Company (SSC) helps Earth profit from House. Because the 70’s, SSC has helped house organizations, firms, different business actors and analysis institutes to get entry to house. By means of our native presence on all continents and near 700 dedicated workers, we provide specialist experience in satellite tv for pc floor station connectivity, spacecraft operations, rocket and balloon techniques, launch companies, flight take a look at companies and information analytics. Amongst our strongest belongings is Esrange House Middle in northern Sweden, set to start launching satellites from Sweden in 2025, in addition to our world floor station community for satellite tv for pc communications: SSC Join. www.sscspace.com
