I attended a presentation by H. Hemmati, formerly at NASA's JPL, now at Facebook working to "connect the unconnected" during a panel session of the Workshop "Shining light on future space optical communications". I gather that they are targeting a combined strategy of HAP (with solar powered planes at 20-25 km), balloons and satellites. The rationale behind is that each solution is best suited for different population density zones, i.e. satellites while expensive (total cost of 100MUSD after Hemmati) are the only way to provide internet in remote zones, while balloons seem to be one inexpensive solution for densely populated areas.
Funfact: he mentioned that the main drawback will be some crashes of HAP elements...
The redbull mission will attempt to transcend human limits. Supported by a team of experts Felix Baumgartner plans to ascend to 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and make a freefall jump rushing toward earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground.
since months austria is not speaking about anything else ... hope it is over soon :-)
seriously: they even had last year Armstrong coming over to discuss with this guy on television (have posted it here) and the whole Red Bull advertisement machinery is working full speed on this ... quite impressive for just a jump ...
A TED talk about Google X way of working and some closer look at the project loon (stratospheric balloon network for internet connection) by the 'moonshot captain' Astro Teller.
" This isn't Camilla's first adventure. The chicken has also flown on a NASA T-38 training jet, traveled onboard a helium balloon to the stratosphere over Louisiana, visited the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, and visited hundreds of elementary students in classrooms around the country. "
Pretty impressive Camilla ! Congratulations :)
NASA is, rather, testing the deployment mechanism.
In 2008, engineers were given just four months to devise a solar sail. They pulled it off, but the rocket carrying the sail experienced launch failure.
The future of wind energy could involve huge blades spanning half a kilometre that generate compressed air – which is then piped into giant, underwater balloons.
The plume issue is not that difficult. I think they used something similar on Apollo LES. The problem is stabilizing the entire system, which is extremely difficult. The entire system will most likely plummet down after the solar balloon phase (which is the only phase they tested before). At least they are not using government money :).
unfortunately the original article is subscription only
"Among the evidence the article cites for this conclusion is Google's recent hiring of Brian Holtz and Dave Bettinger. Both came from companies (O3b and VT iDirect respectively) that specialize in communication satellites. Google has also invested in O3b and a current Google employee sits on company's board.
A Boeing representative told The Information that Facebook and Google are "beginning to show a broader interest in satellite technology." While both companies are looking to space to broaden their reach, the ad-supported Google has the potential resources (cash) and gumption to actually follow through in the immediate future."