Technical balloon launch campaign in Brazil (11/24/2007)

Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil.- Between 3 and 23 November, took place at the Brazilian base of Cachoeira Paulista in the state of Sao Paulo, a campaign to launch stratospheric balloons carried out jointly between the space agencies of Japan (JAXA) and their local counterparts (INPE), and with the additional participation of technicians from the University of Nagoya.

The first launch took place on November 10, 2008 involving a meteorological balloon (made of neoprene) carrying a payload weighting 4kgs. After reaching the flight ceiling at 34 kms, the balloon ended its flight near the launch base. The purpose of the flight was the testing of a telemetry and a remote control system.

The second balloon, made of polyethylene near 5000 m3 of volume, was released on November 19, carrying a payload of 16 kg. The purpose of the flight was also a test of a telemetry and remote control system, as well the verification of the flight route forecasts made through a new software developed recently for that purpose. The craft reached 39 km in height while the payload was successfully recovered three hours later at São Lourenço, Minas Gerais State.

Finally, the third flight took place on November 20 at 7:33 local time with the launch of a superpressure balloon near 300.000 cubic meters in volume. With a weight between payload and the balloon itself close to 500 kgs, the goal was to test flight this new type of balloon developed by Japanese technicians, which was launched using the method semi-dynamic that both agencies developed especially for the launch campaign of NUSMIT telescope in 2006.

The flight lasted just under one hour, ending his flight in the Itatiaia Park, located in the city of Engenheiro Passos, Rio de Janeiro State. The maximum flight altitude was of 14 km.

This campaign has been the third since the signing of the cooperation agreement between the two countries. It is expected for this year the completion of another two international campaigns: one to launch the Japanese FITE telescope and the other carried out side by side with the French space agency CNES. This last probably will be conducted from the Timon Base in the state of Maranhao.

Thanks as always to our friends Nilton Renó and Oscar Fernandez by the pictures and the information provided.