world view's most recent stratollite mission achieves a 27-hour flight

leading the way in the emerging stratospheric economy, tucson-based world view has announced that their most recent stratollite mission achieved a 27-hour flight — their first time staying aloft for more than a whole day/night cycle. aiming to change the business in space, their stratollite flight systems will enable previously impossible applications at a fraction of the cost of existing technology. by offering all advantages of high-altitude balloons — low-cost, rapid deployability, and low-impact flight — with an innovative development: the ability to fly to a variety of trajectories, the stratollites can maintain position over specific areas of interest for days, weeks, and eventually months on end.

the stratollite just achieved its longest time aloft – 27 hours
image courtesy of world view 

‘congrats to our team on achieving a 27+ hour stratollite mission last week!’ posted world view on their facebook page. ‘this was a major accomplishment for our crew, and marks the first time we’ve successfully flown a stratollite through a day/night cycle! the stratollite’s solar panels were able to generate, store, and distribute full system power needed for flight throughout the night. this is major step along the path to making the stratollite a long-duration, mission-ready flight platform!’

balloon fill test at spaceport tucson
image by world view

by achieving this, world view’s stratollites will continue their journey into supporting a range of applications, spanning industries like disaster recovery and first response, communications, weather forecasting, and surveillance aid for U.S. troops. ‘the applicability of the technology is only limited by the imagination of our customers and partners,’ as proven by their KFC chicken sandwich launched into stratosphere earlier this year.

aerial image of the balloon fill test
image by jack roosa / courtesy of world view