Aerostar achieved a new world record Monday with a Thunderhead high-altitude balloon. Aerostar's HBAL684 flew 336 days, the longest continuous flight in the stratosphere by a controllable flight vehicle.
Airbus U.S. Space & Defense and Aerostar announced an expansion of their Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to include additional capabilities from Persistent Systems, LLC (“Persistent”).
Airbus U.S. Space & Defense and Aerostar announced a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the two companies which led to successful joint Internal Research and Development (IRAD) stratospheric test flight. The test flight enabled testing of hardened communications systems suitable to support ISR sensor applications from the stratosphere. The combination of these systems enables near real-time communication and ensures operationally relevant information for critical decision-making.
Today an Aerostar Thunderhead Balloon achieved 200 days of stratospheric flight. The balloon, identified as HBAL 676, manufactured by Aerostar International LLC in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was launched from Hurley, South Dakota on March 8, 2024 to conduct research and development activities associated with navigation.
Aerostar announced that the company has been awarded a five-year, $40.1M contract for the delivery, installation, operation, and sustainment support of the Air Surveillance Radar (ASR) systems onboard U.S. Navy ships.
Aerostar high altitude balloon systems used to conduct multi-domain training for the U.S. Indo-Pacific command joint forces.