Near space

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Near space is the region of Earth's atmosphere that lies between 65,000 and 325,000-350,000 feet (20 to 100km) above sea level, above where a commercial airliner flies but below the realm of an orbiting satellite. The area is of interest to the United States Department of Defense for military surveillance purposes, as well as to commercial interests for communications. Currently, craft that fly in near space are generally high altitude balloons, blimps (non-rigid airships) and sounding rockets. It is also the realm of an activity known as Amateur Radio High Altitude (ARHAB) Ballooning.

[edit] Sources

• Near Space as a Combat Effects Enabler
• United States Air Force
• Defensetech.org
• Near Space Systems
• American Digital Networks
• Parallax.com
• Links to ARHAB Groups
• Space Data Corporation

[edit] See also

• High altitude
• Kármán line