Solenix

First, a little bit of history: In June 2019 Solenix launched its first balloon. It started as a company-funded pet project aimed at sending a weather balloon, together with its payload, to heights above 30 km. In the meantime, it has almost become a tradition: with each iteration we try to optimise and achieve better results.

So last Saturday, with more than 35 degrees and hardly any shade, our third ballooning mission “The Flight of Garuda” took place at the Oberfeld in Darmstadt.

The payload’s case was designed in the style of a spacecraft, with cardboard “solar panels”. The remaining payload consisted of a brave Lego UFO in Solenix colours, one photo camera, one infrared (IR) camera, two video cameras, an iPhone 8 for GPS tracking, an Air-Tag, and a Raspberry Pi to control the IR camera and log GPS data. Compared to previous missions, the team added power banks and more heat pads to ensure that the video cameras could record for a much longer time, as temperatures of around -50 °C drain the batteries fast. Furthermore, the payload’s [A styrofoam box with a piece of electronics inside] weight was optimised, as a goal of this year’s mission was to use less Helium than in previous launches.

Named after a mythical large bird-like creature with a strong and powerful body and the ability to fly very far and very high, we hoped our balloon would live up to this reputation. This has worked far too well as it turns out. Four days later we got an unbelievable call from two farmers from Brook Valley Glamping in Mid-Wales, United Kingdom (889.29 km far from Darmstadt), stating that our payload has landed in their fields and scared their sheep. The route is probably much longer, as the balloon did not fly straight to the landing point as calculated with Google Maps, but certainly made a few circles. The project team is really exited that the balloon flew such a large distance across the English Channel.

The last contact with the payload had been established east of Aschaffenburg, confirming that the balloon was still on the predicted flight path. According to the prediction, the balloon should have flown close to Würzburg where it would have reversed course and burst between Darmstadt and Dieburg. The parachute should then have carried the payload east again, where it should have landed south of Aschaffenburg.

We are now waiting with great excitement for our pictures, videos and the data that can show us how our balloon managed to get this far. So stay tuned, we will keep you informed as soon as possible!