Zero2infinity
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File:Zero2infinity company logo.png | |
Private S.L. | |
Industry | Aerospace |
Founded | Barcelona, Spain |
Founder | Jose Mariano López-Urdiales |
Headquarters | Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain[1] |
Area served
|
Worldwide |
Key people
|
Jose Mariano López-Urdiales CEO |
Products | |
Website | www |
zero2infinity S.L. is a private Spanish company that designs and operates high-altitude balloons to provide access to near space and low Earth orbit using balloon-borne spacecraft and a balloon-borne launcher.
The company was founded in 2009 by aeronautical engineer Jose Mariano López-Urdiales, the current CEO. It is headquartered in Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
zero2infinity has been testing high-altitude balloons and launching small payloads to high altitudes for scientific institutions and commercial firms for testing elements above most of the Earth's atmosphere. Their launch system has a significantly lower impact on the environment, an advantage over conventional systems. The company's high altitude balloons may also be used for tourism.[2]
Products
It currently has two projects in development:
- bloostar: a balloon-borne launcher for carrying payloads such as small, micro, and nanosatellites to orbit, based on rockoon technology.
- bloon: a balloon-borne spacecraft for launching crewed vehicles to near space for scientific research, educational and also space tourism purposes.[3]
Bloostar
bloostar is a launch vehicle currently in development.[4] It is based on the rockoon concept: the first stage of the ascent is conducted by the use of a high-altitude balloon up to 30 km (19 mi), where the rocket platform is ignited and detached from the balloon to insert the payload into orbit.[5] The launch vehicle is composed of a set of liquid fuel engines clustered as concentric reusable toroids attached to the central payload. Each toroid works as a stage during the rocket climb once it has been ignited from around 30 km (19 mi) above ground level. The stages are progressively separated of the vehicle and then recovered in Earth, similarly to conventional satellite launch with rockets.
Moreover, the use of several toroid-shaped stages results in an increased stand-off distance to the sonic line during atmospheric entry, reducing the possibility of damaging the stages because of the high temperatures reached. Another possible advantage is the capability to launch satellites with no need of folding them, as a flat-shape vehicle is capable of fitting panel-deployed satellites right from the launch site.[6]
Bloon
bloon is a spacecraft in development, which consists of a high-altitude balloon-borne capsule to perform manned flights to near space and a steerable parachute system for returning autonomously to Earth. It also refers to the balloon-borne spacecraft prototype range of the same company: bloon, minibloon, microbloon and nanobloon which are differentiated among them by their size.[7]
Considering that only a helium balloon is responsible for lifting the load above most of the atmosphere, it is considered a zero emission spacecraft.[8] With this technology, "bloon" would carry up to 4 passengers and 2 pilots (6 total crew) to an altitude as high as 36 km (22 mi, 118,110 feet).[9] The vehicle would take from 1.5 to 2 hours to reach maximum altitude, and then stay there for up to 2 hours, with a final descent by steerable parachute after releasing the balloon, using airbags to smooth the landing.[10]
Flights
To date, zero2infinity has conducted the following high-altitude flights:[11]
Flight Designation | Date | Reached altitude (km) | Reached altitude (miles) | Reached altitude (feet) | Manned/Unmanned |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
nanobloon 1.0 | November 2009 | 32 km | 20 mi | 104,987 feet | Unmanned |
nanobloon 2.0 | June 2010 | 33 km | 21 mi | 108,268 feet | Unmanned |
microbloon 1.0 | October 2010 | 24 km | 15 mi | 78,740 feet | Unmanned |
microbloon 2.0 | May 2012 | (non-successful flight) | (non-successful flight) | (non-successful flight) | Unmanned |
microbloon 2.0 | November 2012 | 31 km | 19 mi | 101,706 feet | Unmanned |
microbloon 3.0 | September 2013 | 27 km | 17 mi | 88,583 feet | Unmanned |
The company also considered to perform another near space flight to generate a 360 degree footage of the solar eclipse of March 20, 2015.[12]
See also
- World View Enterprises, another near-space-balloon-tourism company
References
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External links
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