High Altitude Balloons Team

A photo of the edge of space, taken by SSI-23, Gemini

The Balloons team constructs and launches high altitude balloons! (HABs) We currently launch primarily Latex balloons, but are also experimenting with Zero Pressure Balloons (ZPBs). To date, the team has launched and recovered 140+ high altitude balloons to as high as 120,000 feet with active altitude controls, satellite communication, and scientific payloads. We have launched a balloon all the way across the Atlantic Ocean from California and also a balloon that has circumnavigated the globe.

The current team co-leads are

@Kai Song  and @Aditya Iyer 

Current projects aim to increase the possibilities that can be achieved using HABs, pushing the ballooning frontier deep into the 21st century. Our 1st project is GRASS, which aims to fly a glacial sounding radar over the ice sheets of Greenland, collaborating with Professor Dustin Schroeder's Glacial Radiology lab, to understand how surface clutter off ice sheets differs with altitude. Our 2nd main project, CLIPPER, aims to develop and fly a glider payload that can be returned to the launch location or another ideal location. This will solve the significant ballooning problem of having to find and retrieve payloads, often from unideal locations; it will also enable us to launch from new locations.

Balloon payloads are launched with state-of-the-art equipment constantly re-envisioned by the team. Previous payloads include altitude control mechanics using a gas venting valve and ballast dispenser (ValBal), as well as a custom flight control system, two-way satellite communications, an intelligent altitude control algorithm, autonomous guided payload recovery and more.

The Balloons Team Faculty Advisor is Dr. John Pauly (EE).

The co-leads in 2022-23 were @Rohan Sanda  and @Jack Bernardo . The co-leads in 2021-22 were @Matthew Tan  and @Janice Teoh . The co-leads in 2020-21 were Aditeya Shuka (@Adi ) and Sathya Edamadaka (@sathya ). The co-leads in 2019-20 were Sydney Marler (@smarler ) and Jason Kurohara (@jason kurohara ).

The core of the Balloons team is a set of long-term technical projects. Current projects include:
Cycloon, which aims to harness altitude control technology and the unique advantages of a balloon platform to study tropical cyclogenesis.
HABSIM, a GEFS-based trajectory prediction server and an associated Python package enabling predictions and optimizations on custom profiles.
Spaceshot, which aims to launch a rocket off a high-altitude balloon to reach space.
HABMC, the balloons team mission-control software, a powerful web-app that provides real-time data, analytics, and controls of balloon flights.
Balloonerang, which aims to build a payload which autonomously glides to a predetermined recovery site.

Previous projects include:
ValBal, a long-endurance, low-cost latex balloon altitude-maintenance platform that holds multiple world records for endurance, and has flown as far as Morocco.
HABEES, the balloons project team responsible for all balloons standard-profile electronics, RF, and flight software systems.
habhive, the balloons mechanical-engineering project team, responsible for development of payload structures & novel mechanical projects to be flown on balloons.

The balloons team is committed to openness and diversity in projects; project teams serve to facilitate member interests and novel new ideas and propositions; talk to the balloon co-leads or the relevant project leads if you have an awesome idea you'd like to try out!