Scientists float balloon-based broadband

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 19 Oct 2005 at 16:24

Superfast Net access could be air-lifted into future disaster areas thanks to a stratospheric balloon.

The European Capanina research consortium, led by the University of York, claims that data from a test flight of a WiFi-ready balloon floating at an altitude of 24,000m confirmed broadband speeds of 1.25Gbps.

The test flight was conducted in August using a 12,000m³ helium filled balloon. Although the science behind the project may be state of the art, some of the technology actually relies on the common-or-garden variety of wireless: 802.11b.

But the scientists on the project tweaked and boosted the signal so that it extended the range from 100m to 60km. This resulted in the high-power radio antenna system designed by the University of York showing data rates of 4Mbps.

Also on-board was an optical communications system built by the German Aerospace Centre which produced what the project claims as 'the first known optical 1.25 Gbit/s downlink from the stratosphere to an optical receiver on the ground over a link distance of up to 64 km'.

Dr David Grace, the project's principal scientific officer said: 'Proving the ability to operate a high data rate link from a moving stratospheric balloon is a critical step in moving towards the longer term aim of providing data rates of 120Mbits/s.'

Applications for balloon-band Net access include the ability to rapidly deploy a communications infrastructure in disaster areas and offering low-cost Internet access in developing countries.

However, currently the technology has only been developed to provide a one-way link, although a bi-directional version is being worked on. There are other, more physical, complications too. Firstly, there are worries that the balloon could interfere with nearby aircraft. Then, the balloon only offers controls for altitude and, being untethered, could simply blow away in the wind.

In the test, the project team fitted the balloon with a GPS component and used a telescope to track the balloon. Video footage of the test run is available here.