analysis
Erbil Update: The TARS Aerostat Was Destroyed on 2 September
Six weeks after the ground facility was burnt out, an IRGC drone and missile attack took the U.S. TARS over Erbil out of the air. Two hits on one fixed site.
analysis
analysis
Tracking the russian starlink (rassvet) satellite constellation over Ukraine
Rassvet is Bureau 1440's Starlink-analogue LEO constellation. We built a tool that forecasts and maps its windows of geometric visibility over Ukraine, up to 72 hours ahead — geometry, not traffic.
analysis
The Stratosphere as an Operational Domain: SASC Language and Urban Sky's APFIT Award
The Senate Armed Services Committee recognized the stratosphere as an emerging operational domain in its FY2026 NDAA report. Urban Sky's $11.3M APFIT award funds production and fielding of a stratospheric platform — not first-time funding for the category.
analysis
The U.S. Army Keeps Buying Surveillance Aerostats. We're Building Connectivity for Contested Areas.
The U.S. Army just renewed its tethered-aerostat surveillance program through 2031. It confirms the category is here to stay — and it draws a clean line between what legacy aerostats are for and what we are building.
analysis
Big Radar Aerostats Have Become Too Easy to Kill
A cheap drone or missile was enough to knock out a strategic radar aerostat — and it has now happened twice. The lesson isn't "build a tougher big aerostat" — it's the opposite.
analysis
Radionor's CRE2 Is Now I-BEAM
Radionor rebranded CRE2 to I-BEAM. The point worth making is the antenna: phased array gives you directional gain without the pointing problem.
haps
HAPS Missions into Russia: 77 Alerts, Mapped
An open-source map of HAPS alerts over Russia, aggregated from open Russian sources.
News
From Experiment to Procurement: The U.S. Army Issues Its First Balloon Acquisition Notice
After months of swarm exercises, the U.S. Army just issued its first formal procurement notice for high-altitude balloon systems.
aerostats
Notable Aerostat Incidents Around the World
Incident 01 Shot Down by Missiles 1981 "Fat Albert" and the Lobster Fishermen of Florida 📍 Cudjoe Key, Florida, USA · August 1981 The TARS aerostat over Cudjoe Key — the one locals nicknamed "Fat Albert." Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection It started as a routine descent