» PLANNING & ORGANIZATION OF YOUR STRATOSPHERE MISSION «
If you have decided to start your own small stratosphere mission, you should prepare well. The best thing to do is to look for some friends and discuss your goals in general: would you like to set a new height record, for example? Send experiments for a project to the stratosphere? Which camera perspectives should be installed? All this must be planned precisely. Basically, you should first choose the equipment that suits your objectives, and then gather the information about the approval right afterwards to register your mission with the authorities. You should play it safe when getting the permit and plan for 2-4 weeks. In the meantime, you can construct your probe and get it ready to go.
Optimal starting point: In most countries, you need a lift permit to start your weather balloon. While registering for your permit you will have to specify your starting location. The Stratoflights team has launched flights countless times over the past few years in various regions of Germany, as well as in some EU countries. In general, it is easier to obtain a lift permit if your chosen starting point is about 5 kilometers from the nearest major airport. But even in major cities and near airports you can obtain a permit if you just respect a few conditions of the air traffic control. The starting point must be checked in each individual case. How this works we’ll come to later.
Plan for enough helping hands: No matter how well you have prepared yourself for the project and no matter how many times you have already carried out this project, each start is always a little different and brings new challenges with it. With each ascent you may experience smaller or bigger challenges. Thus, the more helpers, the better. Thus, helpers on the day of the flight can, for example, hold the weather balloon, so that other team members can concentrate on other tasks or solve problems. It’s best to bring a few friends into the project right from the start, so you can split the mission costs and experience an unforgettable adventure together.
Obtaining the permit: To launch a weather balloon, you’ll need a permit in most countries. Since aviation law is still regulated differently in each country, each state has different rules and requires different amount of information for the release of a weather balloon. For example, information such as color and length of the probe, start location and start time or departure weight could be required. A short overview of the individual requirements of the countries, as well as a tool for registration in Germany, can be found here:
With our weather balloon registration you can easily register your weather balloon start with the aviation authority. Our generator guides you step by step through the registration, so that nothing stands in the way of your mission
Property owner approval: Unless you start your project from your own property, the authorities of some states require the consent of the property owner. An informal letter and signature is sufficient in most cases, for example, in a school project, the signature of the headmaster, at the start of a field, the signature of the farmer, etc.
Insurance: In order to apply for permission to launch your weather balloon, you will need aviation liability insurance so that personal injury and property damage are covered. For the weather balloon flights to the edge of space we have a special cooperation with AXA, which insures the ascents in your country! You can get a weather balloon insurance via the following tool: Weather Balloon Insurance from AXA.
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