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Weather Balloons To Provide Broadband In Africa
An anonymous reader writes "Two African entrepreneurs have secured exclusive access to market near-space technology — developed by Space Data, an American telecommunications company — throughout Africa. The technology raises hydrogen-filled weather balloons to 80,000 — 100,000 feet, which individuals contact via modems. The balloons, in turn, serve as satellite substitutes which can connect Africans to broadband Internet. 'Network operation centers are located close to a fiber optic cable — say, in Lagos or Accra — and a signal is sent back and forth to the [balloon] in near space,' says one of the entrepreneurs, Timothy Anyasi. The technology will also allow mobile phone operators to offer wireless modems to customers."
As I am not familiar with African law, just with FAA flight regulations here in the United States.
Having been on a near space team (http://nearspace.0x58.com), and having launched two near space balloons, 92,999 ft, and 83,000 ft I can tell you that they pose no problems for jet liners. The balloons are big enough to be spotted by any pilot worth his salt, and they only stick around the altitude where jets fly in the first place for just a minute or so because they ascend so fast.
Also, depending on the weight in the United States you have to file a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) which gets distributed to all of the flight control towers, air traffic controllers and will also be distributed to pilots flying in the area you are planning on launching. Anything under 6 pounds you don't have to notify, but it is generally nice to do so as a courtesy. 12 pounds is the limit for amateur near space balloon launches. I have no experience with bigger near space payloads.
cat
When was the last time a passenger airplane flew at 80,000 to 100,000 feet?
Yeah, but the balloons have to travel upwards through the same airspace that airlines and other aircraft travel through.
In my other life, I eat cats.
Speaking from personal experience with the near space launches I have completed with a team (http://nearspace.0x58.com) located in Arizona, I hope they don't make the mistake of putting the GPS on the outside of the box. During our second balloon launch we launched closer to night so that we could attempt to get photo's of the sun setting (and boy did we succeed: http://nearspace.0x58.com/launches/CONNERY-2/pictures/Payload_Camera/).
However what we had not counted on was the fact that the temperature would drop so low that the GPS would literally freeze and stop responding and completely shut off, until it got low enough, and warm enough again to turn on. We thought we had lost our package payload.
Other than that, since the balloons are going to follow whatever winds they can find, how are they going to make sure that the area they want to service has a balloon above it at all times? What if the wind is going in the wrong direction? As for recovering the devices, will they be water proof? What if it lands in a lake, or body of water? What about high up on the mountain side somewhere?
Definitely interesting and something to watch in the near future, if this is cheaper than launching a satellite and can be done in a sustainable method and still provide adequate phone service or other services using near space technology!
cat
The US has been using these along the southern border for years. They are tethered & fly at 15,000 feet and provide radar coverage along the border to interdict drug smuggling by air. They had problems with leaky balloons, and the need to ground them for maintenance, at which time they were vulnerable to bad weather on the surface. There were formal no-fly zones posted in their vicinity. Apparently there was no problem with aircraft running into them. I've driven along I-10 and occasionally have been able to see them in the air, they definitely look like hovering flying saucers.
At night all balloons are required to have a flashing light that is visible for up to 2 or 5 miles.
So yes, at night as well.
cat
The longer a balloon is up - the farther it is going to travel. Anything to change that will drive up costs. And switch around the comparison - so that it makes economic sense. What's the cost of an ultra-endurance airplane compared to a satellite?
The Vulture program is aiming for an aircraft that can keep a 1,000 lb payload up for at least 5 years - over a designated area 99% of the time. That's further out - but it makes more sense than balloons for quite a few reasons.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Neat Idea, they should deploy these in rural america where verizon doesn't go and the comcast/at&t duopoly is fierce..
I wish the only issues were a duopoly. In many areas of the US, high-speed, low-latency Internet access is simply unavailable.
When it is available, the only current option is to spend $5-30k for telco "special construction charges" and $500+/month for a T1.
Consumer level satellite options (WildBlue, Hughes) have really tight bandwidth quotas and latency of 1-2seconds. The quota on the $100/month WildBlue "Professional" tier is 17GB down/month (30-day rolling cycle) and 5GB up with a $400 dish/modem purchase. Hughes has several tiers but you're out $700 for the dish/modem and $120-$500/month depending on the speed and bandwidth quotas you need.
Yet whenever any of these long-haul wireless and uav devices are discussed, the focus is on Africa. Why is that? I'll pay you the same or more than an African for the flexibility of living anywhere in the United States with a high-bandwidth, low-latency connection and I suspect a lot of other people would do so as well.
...will be the ping/lag. Like trying to play CPMA with someone in UAE.
Well, better than nothing. :)
The latency should be much, much better than current geosynchronous satellite options. I wouldn't expect balloon-based repeaters to have latency above 100ms. Compare that to WildBlue/Hughes with real-world latency of 1000-2500ms (they claim 500-750ms).