Reusable stratospheric platform testing to begin in Arctic exploration expedition

MURMANSK, August 6. /TASS/. Testing of a reusable stratospheric platform for Arctic exploration will be environmentally safe for the fragile environment of high latitudes. An expedition to test the platform at the North Pole is about to depart from Murmansk, the Murmansk Arctic University (MAU), supervising the project, told TASS.

"This is an airplane-type reusable stratospheric platform with a 3-meter wingspan, which is attached to a stratospheric balloon. When the balloon is lifted to an altitude of over 20 km, the platform detaches to continue autonomous flight along a predetermined route. The platform is reusable and it returns to any designated point, while the balloon is disposable. The baloon is made of biodegradable materials thus preventing any harm to the fragile Arctic environment," the university's press service said.

Specialists have already completed the platform's final tests at a testing ground in Tatarstan before the expedition departs Murmansk. The 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory) nuclear-powered icebreaker is preparing to depart. The icebreaker will bring the expedition participants to the North Pole, where the experiment will take place under Rosatom's Icebreaker of Knowledge international scientific and educational expedition.

Unique design

It is the combination of these two technologies that makes the experiment unique for use in the Arctic. A separate stratospheric balloon would drift in air currents without the ability to be controlled or retrieved. As for research unmanned systems, they cannot ascend to altitudes of up to 20 km or cover long distances. Combining these technologies into a single system opens up new possibilities for monitoring hard-to-reach areas in the Arctic.

"The experiment will be an important step towards creating an independent Arctic monitoring system that does not rely on foreign space satellites, that is more cost-effective, and yet provides equally high-quality data transmission in real time," the program's leader, the university's Deputy Chancellor for Research and Innovation Anton Yurmanov said.

During the upcoming test, scientists plan to obtain meteorology and ice conditions data, as well as to transmit from the height a live signal to Mayak Radio and the project's social media channels, thus testing new approaches to communications in the Arctic. The platform was developed by specialists of the Murmansk Arctic University, the Stratonavtika Laboratory, the Harbin Institute of Technology, and the Environmental Foundation.

"The Environmental Foundation sees this development as a breakthrough tool for environmental monitoring in the Arctic," the foundation's Director Pyotr Shpilenok said. "We are proud to participate with leading scientific teams in creating a system to obtain accurate environmental data, which, most importantly, is absolutely environmentally safe."

About the Murmansk Arctic University

The Murmansk Arctic University, created as a merger of two of biggest universities in the Murmansk Region, has received over 1 billion rubles ($12 million) to establish a Coastal Training Center and to upgrade the Maritime Conventional Training Center. The university has been working on a modern student campus. The educational institution is a candidate for the Priority 2030 program, which includes work on three strategic projects: "Marine Technologies in the Arctic," "Innovative Technologies in Mining and Mineral Processing," and "Arctic Bioresources and Biotechnology."