On November 12, 2012, zero2infinity launched a life-supporting capsule to 32 km from Leon, Spain, using a 43,000 m~3 balloon and its own launch vehicle and ground equipment thereby officially entering the small club of heavy balloon launch providers. As demonstrated by the successful test flights to develop internal technologies, zero2infmity is already able to provide flights opportunities to researchers, institutes and space agencies at an affordable price. This paper will describe the launch capabilities that zero2infmity is currently developing for conducting experiments and tests ranging from tens of kilograms to a ton. Internal (controlled environment) and external (direct exposure) mounting capabilities are available in zero2infinity's pods on both dedicated and shared flights. Small and medium payloads can benefit from the availability of shared flights to cost-effectively reach Near-Space. As a privately held company based in Spain, launches will eventually be available from several locations both in Europe and internationally, and will be available to all types of customers, governmental and non-governmental, on a first-come first-served basis. zero2infmity has successfully flown several prototypes and other technology demonstrations payloads, and has conducted two large balloon campaigns culminating with a successful flight in November 2012. zero2infinity has partnered with the ISTAR group for the development of this capability and is now ready to accommodate scientific payloads with very diverse needs. In a 3-year horizon, when zero2infinity starts operating its crewed pods, scientists will be able to fly with their payloads and interact with them during the whole 5-hour flight.
展开▼
