Sbir phase II: mesospheric sub-orbital ballooning system

Space Balloon Technologies Corp (doing business as Spaceloon) received a $1.25 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II cooperative agreement from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) to develop a market-ready mesospheric sub-orbital ballooning platform. The award, effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, supports completion of engineering and validation activities for a novel balloon system capable of providing high-fidelity, long-duration satellite testing services at the edge of space. The platform will enable rapid, cost-effective access to mesospheric altitudes (above 50 km) as an alternative to expensive rocket launches, addressing the industry challenge that over 35% of satellites experience component or system failures post-deployment.

The primary deliverable is a dependable, cost-effective sub-orbital ballooning platform designed to support satellite and space payload testing with extended flight durations exceeding one hour. This capability will serve the space industry, military divisions, and telecommunications sector by reducing satellite development timelines and deployment failure costs while enabling previously inaccessible near-space research and testing opportunities. The Phase II effort builds upon successful Phase I proof-of-concept work and will advance Spaceloon's controlled altitude ballooning technology toward commercialization as a service offering for mission-critical satellite pre-launch validation.

Abstract

The broader/commercial impact of this small business innovation research (SBIR) phase II project is enabling a new avenue to high-fidelity and long-duration satellite testing at the edge-of-space, and with IT, rapid and reliable satellite missions to low-earth-orbit and beyond. More than 35% of satellites fail at the component, or system level, after their deployment into orbit. Available testing platforms do not meet the industry's needs for rapid and low-cost technology risk reduction, therefore slowing the progress of the race to space. Satellite testing at mesospheric altitudes will increase the reliability of satellite launches, bring down the cost of those satellites, and open a new chapter in the growth of the space industry. This capability is critical for increasing the success rate of space missions. Enabling access to previously unreachable mesospheric regions will unlock new opportunities unknowable today and whose boundaries are yet to be defined. Providing near-space testing services to space and aviation industries, military divisions, and the telecom industry will save hundreds of millions of dollars lost to deployment failures. This small business innovation research (SBIR) phase II project aims to complete engineering and validation activities for a novel mesospheric ballooning platform to enable faster, less expensive, and long-duration (>hour) access to the mesosphere for providing near-space sub-orbital testing services for satellites and space payloads. Existing mesospheric access is by rocketry. Rocket launches are expensive, mechanically demanding, and allow only a few minutes of sub-orbital access. In their SBIR phase-I project, the company developed and demonstrated breakthrough concepts for taking balloons to the mesosphere. In this phase II project, the company will develop a market-ready sub-orbital ballooning platform that can reach those altitudes dependably and cost-effectively for longer duration than currently possible. In addition, flights to the mesosphere will enable new applications for remote sensing, earth and space observations, surveillance, weather observations, improved predictions, and more. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.