ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Air Force is eyeing a seldom-used region of the Earth’s atmosphere called “near space” for communications and intelligence-gathering with one of the oldest types of aircraft — balloons.
The air at 65,000 feet and higher is too thin for most traditional airplanes, so military officials are testing unmanned helium balloons at those altitudes. This frigid part of the atmosphere is above most weather but well below low Earth orbit, where the far-costlier space station and satellites operate.
“It’s a region of the atmosphere that historically has really not been exploited,” said Lt. Col. Toby Volz, who oversees near-space programs at Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs.
A key advantage of balloons and blimps is that they may be able to stay aloft much longer than an airplane, providing a communications or surveillance platform that can last days or even weeks. They also are much cheaper than satellites, and could let ground forces communicate over far greater ranges than the line-of-sight radios they often carry.
“I’ve been intrigued by near space’s potential for persistent spacelike effects on the battlefield ever since I first heard about it,” the Air Force’s chief of staff, Gen. John Jumper, wrote earlier this year in a forward to a paper on the subject. “Near space has been a cultural blind spot — too high up for aircraft, but too low for satellites.”
One simple prototype, dubbed “Combat SkySat,” was tested in the skies over Arizona in January through March with 12 test launches. Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., also is involved in testing near-space crafts.
The Air Force is considering seeking up to $15 million on near-space operations and research in its 2007 budget, officials said. Col. Volz hopes to see operational near-space systems during the next five years.
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