Near space balloon living is a future we can all share. Floating to near space costs 1/1000th as much as orbiting earth, and unlike rocketry, advances in ballooning don’t help missile makers. Do we want a space age of floating solar cities or bunker-dwelling paranoia?
I’ve been making small balloons out of thin plastics welded together with heat, glues, and tapes since 2008, and recently commercialized Airpup. I have a passion for solar hot air balloons, and got into using and designing tethered balloons for environmental monitoring and communications through Grassroots Mapping. I haven’t flown in a balloon of my own, yet.
![Jake holding a 10' sphere solar balloon](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/ballonwjake.png)
![Teddy bear taking off on a 12' tetrahedron balloon.](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/7299318516_6160a94c4c_b.jpg)
![20cu ft. kite balloon from a mylar sleeping bag.](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/100_0375-c.jpg)
![12' tetrahedron balloon filling with solar hot air](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/5483748346_fa317a0dd2_o-c.jpg)
![1/8 scale model of a kite balloon](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/5483133295_b796045db7_o-c.jpg)
![Public Lab Balloon mapping Kit](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/P_20160727_142712-c.jpg)
![box packing instructions for the Public Lab balloon Mapping Kit](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/7946217146_5f685372be_o.jpg)
![flying near the Kennecott Smelter on the Great Salt Lake](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/2011-07-29-16-24-05-524.jpg)
![12' tetrahedron balloon darkened with charcoal powder](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/thekissballoon-c.jpg)
![emergency sleeping bag kite balloon with foam glider wings](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/1299869655936-orig.jpg)
![manually scooping air into a solar balloon to fill it](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/P1010464-c.jpg)
![solar balloon takes off lifting camera in a stuffed bunny](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/balloons/P1010471-c.jpg)
![](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/airpup/P2390605-crop-sq.jpg)
![](https://headfullofair.com/assets/images/airpup/airpup-innov-nation-c.jpg)
- “Low cost: On the basis of a rough estimation of the basic costs of the main balloon and common equipment (excluding the on-board scientific observation instrumentation), the outlay required for a balloon experiment is at least a factor of 10 lower than that required for a small sounding rocket, at least a factor of 100 lower than that required for a large rocket and a small satellite, and at least a factor of a 1,000 lower than that required for a large satellite. Since the launch facilities are particularly basic, its operation and maintenance costs are also substantially lower.”
- Page 12, Yajima et. al. Scientific Ballooning: Technology and Applications of Exploration Balloons Floating in the Stratosphere and the Atmospheres of Other Planets. New York 2004.