BALMAN - TEST FLIGHT

BALMAN is the acronym for BALlon MANoeuvrant a super-pressure long-duration steerable balloon being developed for the CNES by the French firm HEMERIA since the decade of 2020. The project aims to give the capability to a simple balloon to be steerable and to follow a controlled trajectory to go from an area to another, or to remain overflying a dedicated area. The first steps of the project have been funded by the France Relance government initiative and by CNES Defense credits.

This double balloon system consists of a pressurized pumpkin balloon filled with air, of about 20 meters in diameter, containing a helium ballonet. The vehicle is capable of controlled vertical excursions between 16 and 22 km to get advantage of the use the stratified winds of the stratosphere, variable in directions and velocity, to move towards a target area and to stay there sustainably. The change of altitude is achieved by increasing the mass of air sucked through an outward compressor (to make the balloon heavier and force it down) or venting this air allowing the balloon to be lighter and thus to ascend.

BALMAN is based in the well known design created by Google for the Loon Project.

Balloon launched on: 10/31/2024 at 4:00 UTC
Launch site: Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG), Kourou, French Guiana  
Balloon launched by: Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: BALMAN - Superpressure balloon with internal ballonet  
Flight identification number: F-GJUG
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 10/31/2024 at 6:55 UTC
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): 2 h 55 m
Landing site: Impact in the Atlantic Ocean, 42 km NE of Kourou, French Guiana

This was the first test flight of the system aimed to perform a short flight in order to verify the good behaviour of the 2 envelopes and to test the flight termination system. The balloon was launched at 4:00 UTC, on October 31, 2024 from the observation point "Colibri" near the Ariane 6 launch pad of the Centre Spatial Guyanaise in French Guiana.

After reaching an altitude of 17.8 km the mission was terminated and the balloon impacted in the Atlantic Ocean, 42 km NE of Kourou from where it was fully recovered.

The total flight time was 3 hours.

• BalMan, maneuvering stratospheric balloon Hemeria Website
• Campagne BalMan au CSG Centre spatial guyanais