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Steven Meckler/World View

By David Hambling

Up, up and away! High-altitude balloons called Stratollites might soon be giving the US military and NASA permanent and relatively low-cost eyes in the sky wherever they want.

Developed by US firm World View, Stratollites are uncrewed, helium-filled balloons that tour the stratosphere at heights of between 10 and 46 kilometres. As the stratosphere is layered with winds blowing in different directions, a Stratollite’s path The balloons are controlled remotely from the ground.

World View has used dozens of flights to refine the computer models and algorithms used to navigate …

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