Zero2infinity

Zero 2 Infinity
Private S.L.
Industry Aerospace
Founded Barcelona, Spain
Founder Jose Mariano López-Urdiales
Headquarters Barberà del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain[1]
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Jose Mariano López-Urdiales CEO
Products
Website www.zero2infinity.space

Zero 2 Infinity is a private Spanish company that operates high-altitude balloons to provide access to near space and low Earth orbit using a balloon-borne pod and a balloon-borne launcher.

The company was founded in 2009 by aerospace engineer Jose Mariano López-Urdiales, the current CEO. It is headquartered in Barberà del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.

Zero 2 Infinity has been testing high-altitude balloons and launching small payloads to high altitudes for scientific institutions and commercial firms for testing elements above most of the Earth's atmosphere. Their launch system has a significantly lower impact on the environment, an advantage over conventional systems. The company's pod named Bloon may also be used for tourism.[2] As of late 2016, its CEO had suggested that commercial flights could take place as early as 2019.[3]

Products

It currently has three lines of business:

Bloostar

Bloostar launch cycle

Bloostar is a launch vehicle currently in development.[5] It is based on the rockoon concept: the first stage of the ascent is conducted by the use of a high-altitude balloon up to 30 km (19 mi), where the rocket platform is ignited and detached from the balloon to insert the payload into orbit.[6] The launch vehicle is composed of a set of liquid fuel engines clustered as concentric reusable toroids attached to the central payload. Each toroid works as a stage during the rocket climb once it has been ignited from around 30 km (19 mi) above ground level. The stages are progressively separated of the vehicle and then recovered in Earth, similarly to conventional satellite launch with rockets.

Moreover, the use of several toroid-shaped stages results in an increased stand-off distance to the sonic line during atmospheric entry, reducing the possibility of damaging the stages because of the high temperatures reached. Another possible advantage is the capability to launch satellites with no need of folding them, as a flat-shaped vehicle is capable of fitting panel-deployed satellites right from the launch site.[7]

Bloon

Picture taken at high altitude during the microbloon 2.0 flight from November 2012

Bloon is a zero emission craft in development, which consists of a high-altitude balloon-borne capsule to perform manned flights to near space and a steerable parachute system for returning autonomously to Earth. It also refers to the balloon-borne craft prototype range of the same company: Bloon, minibloon, microbloon and nanobloon which are differentiated among them by their size.[8]

Considering that only a helium balloon is responsible for lifting the load above most of the atmosphere, it is considered a zero emission craft.[9] With this technology, Bloon would carry up to 4 passengers and 2 pilots (6 total crew) to an altitude as high as 36 km (22 mi, 118,110 feet).[10] The vehicle would take from 1.5 to 2 hours to reach maximum altitude, and then stay there for up to 2 hours, with a final descent by steerable parachute after releasing the balloon, using airbags to smooth the landing.[11]

Part of the Bloon prototype being tested in September 2013.
Bloon model

Elevate

Elevate is a service provided to lift payloads to near space on a stratospheric balloon platform for purposes such as testing of (components of) spacecraft, drop tests, celestial observation or publicity. The useful load on a stratospheric zero pressure balloon can range from several kilograms to over 5000 kg and the target altitude varies between 20 and 42 kilometers. The duration at altitude or ‘float’ can be extended from hours to several days or even weeks depending on the launch location. Additional solutions such as solar arrays, battery power or advanced return options such as a guided parafoil (as opposed to a traditional parachute) and tailor-made solutions to customer requirements are also offered as part of the Elevate service.

Flights

Zero 2 Infinity reports that it has conducted over 30 flights as of 2016.[3] The most important flights for Bloon are listed below[12]

Flight Designation Date Reached altitude (km) Reached altitude (miles) Reached altitude (feet) Manned/Unmanned
nanobloon 1.0 November 2009 32 km 20 mi 104,987 feet Unmanned
nanobloon 2.0 June 2010 33 km 21 mi 108,268 feet Unmanned
microbloon 1.0 October 2010 24 km 15 mi 78,740 feet Unmanned
microbloon 2.0 May 2012 (non-successful flight) (non-successful flight) (non-successful flight) Unmanned
microbloon 2.0 November 2012 31 km 19 mi 101,706 feet Unmanned
microbloon 3.0 September 2013 27 km 17 mi 88,583 feet Unmanned
Bloon model January 2017 Tethered Tethered Tethered Unmanned
Bloostar ignition at 25 km

The company also considered to perform another near space flight to generate a 360 degree footage of the solar eclipse of March 20, 2015.[13]

On March 1st 2017, Zero 2 Infinity ignited its first rocket from Near Space, a Bloostar prototype. The flight took place at the INTA (Instituto Nacional de Técnia Aeroespacial) facilities in El Arenosillo, Huelva. The balloon that took Bloostar to 25 km was launched from a boat in the Gulf of Cadiz. At 25 km the ignition of the rocket took place. The goals of the mission were: (i) validation of the telemetry systems in Space conditions, (ii) controlled ignition, (iii) stabilization of the rocket, (iv) monitoring of the launch sequence, (v) parachute deployment, and finally, (vi) sea recovery. All these goals were achieved in full. [14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "zero2infinity Company Information". 0ll00.
  2. ↑ Betancourt, Mark (July 2015). "See The World From 100,000 Feet". Air & Space. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 thelocal.es (5 November 2016). "Spain's Zero2Infinity to send tourists to space in two years". thelocal.es. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Emanuelli, Matteo (September 24, 2013). "Zero2Infinity, a New Way for Space Tourism". Space Safety Magazine. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Henry, Caleb (October 16, 2014). "Zero2infiniti Announces Bloostar Launch Vehicle, More than $200 Million Pre-Booked Sales". Satellite Today. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Szondy, David (October 21, 2014). "zero2infinity mixes balloons and rockets to launch nanosats". gizmag. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Reyes, Tim (October 17, 2014). "Balloon launcher Zero2Infinity Sets Its Sights to the Stars". Universe Today. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  8. ↑ Yanes, Javier (November 23, 2014). "Escapadas espaciales: cuatro opciones para salir de este planeta (a precios astronómicos)" (in Spanish). The Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  9. ↑ O'Ceallaigh, John (September 4, 2014). "Travel to space by Bloon". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Murrin, Mark (June 13, 2012). "Helium balloon to offer near-space tourism within a few years". Tech-Stew. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Cruddas, Sarah (March 6, 2015). "Near-space ‘ballooning’ could become next space travel trend". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  12. ↑ López-Urdiales, José Mariano (March 12, 2014). "NEAr-Space high-altitude balloons: the alternative for space tourism and science" (PDF). European Space Astronomy Centre, Madrid (Spain). Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Zolfagharifard, Ellie; Woollaston, Victoria; Malm, Sara (March 4, 2015). "A 360 degree view of a solar eclipse from SPACE: GoPro cameras in stratosphere to capture live HD footage of rare event". Daily Mail. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Zero 2 Infinity Successfully Launches its First Rocket from the Edge of Space - Z2I". Z2I. 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
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