The SCoPEx Research team has announced the timing and location for a proposed platform test in Sweden in June 2021. This balloon flight would be managed by Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), flying out of Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. This test would not be the experiment itself but rather a test of the SCoPEx platform without the release of any particles. Specifically, the Research Team would like to test the gondola’s horizontal and vertical control using the winch system and propellers as well as the power, data, navigation, and communication systems. They would not release any aerosols, nor fly an aerosol injection/release system. Still, they will not proceed with this flight without a formal recommendation authorizing the flight from the Advisory Committee to Harvard management. You can learn more about the Research Team’s proposed platform launch here.
The Committee intends to complete financial, legal, and technical soundness reviews by the 15th of February 2021 at which point a decision will be made to either recommend or advise against the flight. We have documented the Research Team’s Request, the Committee’s Response, and the Research Team’s follow-up, which can also be found on the Public Documents page. We will continue to update our mailing list as the reviews are completed.
To stay informed of future updates, please subscribe to our mailing list here.