2023-06-25 07:29:08
Observation tower, drones, reconnaissance aircraft… there is no shortage of solutions for gaining height over large territories for prevention or surveillance purposes, but the tethered balloon has many advantages, ecological and economic.
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Julie Dautel has dreamed since childhood of going into space and to the Moon. A dream that she now has with her fingertips since the startup she co-founded with Cédric Tomissi has just announced the launch of tethered balloons Stratolab. Slightly inflated with helium on the ground, they reach a wingspan of nearly five meters at a few tens of kilometers in altitude for monitoring and environmental monitoring at a lower cost with an almost zero carbon footprint compared to a rocket launch.
Detection, protection and environmental monitoring
It all started for the two co-founders on the benches of the National School of Decorative Arts with a project on future energies and access to energy in areas after a disaster. From there was born EONEF in 2014 with the intention of developing tethered balloons for the early detection of fires, environmental monitoring for example on wild animals, but also to reinforce protection in order to avoid intrusions on sensitive isolated sites. They allow you to gain height over long periods of time to observe, send or receive information over large territories.
Stratolab, carbon-free access to the stratosphere by A-NSE and EONEF. © EONEF
The advantages of tethered balloons
Permanently connected to a cable, the balloons have many advantages compared to other solutions available in the sector. The height in particular, since where a tethered drone rises to a maximum of 70 meters, tethered balloons can reach 150 meters. More resistant to the wind, they also have an incomparable autonomy for long flight times, ” four times more than a reconnaissance aircraft for example for a cost 13 times less. In addition, the balloons have been designed to be compact, so they require less helium to inflate “says Julie Dautel.
The best technologies in a crisis
EONEF has for example worked with the NGO Hackers Against Natural Disasters (HAND) to identify the best technologies useful in the event of a crisis. After a natural disaster or following an accident, the EONEF balloon is deployed to the local crisis center and carries various communication and data reception technologies on board. Taking the height of the balloon increases the signal range of the systems, which makes it possible to avoid multiplying the deployment of infrastructures on the ground and to streamline rescue operations.
Commit to a more resilient world
The startup has chosen to become a Social and Solidarity Economy (ESS) company to commit to a more resilient world through better connected isolated areas. It is both a manufacturer and an operator for humanitarian actors and scientific missions.
At the beginning of 2023, EONEF became the environmental subsidiary of the aeronautical industrial company A-NSE, and after having touched the stratosphere, it is working to offer the transport of people in the future.
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