Overview of the key stages, results, and engineering solutions of the long-duration stratospheric drift mission
On March 15th, 2025, at 18:04 local time, a successful launch of a stratospheric balloon took place from the testing range in Kirzhach. The vehicle completed an autonomous flight lasting 84 hours, covering a distance of over 10,000 km at an average speed of 120 km/h (peak – 196 km/h).
Mission stages and data analysis:
1. Launch and night session
After the evening launch, communication with the vehicle was absent in accordance with the programmed energy-saving mode: data transmission was activated only with sufficient solar panel insolation.
2. Reaching the target altitude
During the first daytime session, ascent to the calculated altitude was confirmed. All systems were operating normally, including automatic buoyancy stabilization.
3. Trajectory correction over Yakutia
On the second day of the flight, a course deviation towards the North Pole was recorded. However, when passing over the Laptev Sea, a sharp drop in ambient temperature caused contraction of the lifting gas, leading to an unplanned decrease in altitude.
4. Anomalies in the Arctic region
Deviation from the predicted trajectory is associated with changes in the direction of high-altitude atmospheric currents. In the Greenland area, the vehicle regained altitude, exceeding calculated parameters, but encountered strong vertical currents when approaching Iceland.
Key mission results:
• The effectiveness of the autonomous zero gas-loss envelope design has been confirmed.
• Mathematical models of flight dynamics under stratospheric currents have been verified.
• The adaptive ballast system compensating for daily temperature fluctuations has been successfully tested.
• The possibility of long-duration drift (3+ days) while maintaining functionality of onboard systems has been demonstrated.
Development prospects:
Subsequent launches will focus on replicating the developed solutions with the integration of modernized buoyancy control and navigation systems. The obtained data will form the basis for designing the next generation of stratospheric platforms for scientific and commercial purposes.
Review the technical details of the project.
The project team thanks colleagues for their support and invites professional discussion of the results in the comments.
*The translation was carried out with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
