WINDBORNE SYSTEMS INC. SBIR Phase I Award, December 2019

The WindBorne Systems Aerial Sensing Platform (“ASP”) is a highly versatile high-altitude balloon-based sensor or communications platform that can directly address the need for targeted weather data and serve in numerous other data-gathering applications. The ASP can deliver a lightweight sensor payload to wide range of altitudes, reach a target location thousands of miles away from launch, and ride varying winds to dwell over an area for several days. At its core, the ASP is a low-cost, disposable, weather balloon outfitted with a highly responsive altitude control system able to hit and maintain any altitude up the the configured flight ceiling. These balloons can navigate from a single launch site to any desired location within a continent-scale accessible area. Persistent weather data over Afghanistan, for instance, could be collected by performing regular launches at military bases or launch sites as far away as India and Europe, eliminating the need for personnel to install and maintain weather sensors in remote and potentially hostile areas.