[MilCom] Balloon Launch / NASA Wallops Launch Scrubbed

[Punworg]

While we wait for the Wallops launch, there's this
radio balloon launch in Arizona that we can listen
for.  This would be one heck of a good CB platform. 
>From the Air Force Times:

March 15, 2005

Radio-bearing balloons could aid communication

By Nicole Gaudiano
Times staff writer

Can free-floating balloons carrying commercial,
off-the-shelf, two-way radios boost the communication
ability of warfighters on the ground?

The Air Force Space Battlelab hopes Wednesday’s
demonstration in Chandler, Ariz., will prove they can.

Called “Combat SkySat,” the demonstration could extend
military operations to “near space,” the area between
65,000 and 325,000 feet above sea level. That’s an
altitude range not currently used for military
applications and one considered a no-man’s land
between aircraft and orbiting satellites.

The demonstration is meant to develop line-of sight
communication capability to support Air Force tactical
air control parties. TACP operators work closely with
the Army to coordinate close air support during ground
operations.

According to a statement released by Air Force Space
Command, military systems operating in near space
would complement satellite and aircraft capabilities,
“providing a tailorable and affordable capability to
tactical and theater forces.”

The Space Battlelab, based at Peterson Air Force Base,
Colo., has teamed with the 13th Air Support Operations
Squadron, Fort Carson, Colo., for the demonstration,
according to the release.


--- Keith Stein <kstein at erols.com> wrote:
> At 7:08 a.m., the launch of the Orion sounding
> rocket has been scrubbed for 
> today. 

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