Project Ikaros

Near-Space Balloon Missions

The Bay School of San Francisco

Bay students have now successfully launched and recovered three near-space balloon payloads, sailing into the stratosphere and returning atmostpheric data, photos, and video. Pre-launch preparations and launch-day updates can be found on our livestream page.

Ikaros I

Our first mission in May of 2010 proved that we could successfully launch and recover video and data from the upper atmosphere.

Ikaros II

Refining our first design, Ikaros II tested new components and a multi-package arrangement.

Ikaros III

With a new, lighter, more stable payload, including electronics we constructed ourselves, Ikaros III tweeted its way to 96,000 feet on April 11, 2012.

Ikaros IV

The flight of Ikaros IV, configured with better cameras, data-logging capability, and a bacteria collection device, was completed on April 11, 2013.