2024-10-25 · HAST / SkyEdge · Mission archive
The balloon disappeared into the fog, but the experiment was only beginning. Watch the launch film and mission documentation from a flight carrying two Meshtastic modules to approximately 32 km.
- Reported altitude
- approx. 32 km
- Module bands
- 433 / 868 MHz
- Reported communications
- over 500 km
A small payload and a clear test objective
On 25 October 2024, a balloon launched near Warsaw carrying two Meshtastic modules. The purpose was to explore how altitude could extend a network using LoRa radio links. The archive film shows the cold, foggy launch conditions.
Two bands and receiver reports
The modules operated in the 433 and 868 MHz bands. The post-flight account reports approximately 32 km altitude within four hours, with signals received and relayed at distances exceeding 500 km. Receiver screens and maps appear in the original edit.
How to interpret the result
Meshtastic is a mesh network in which messages can pass through intermediate nodes. The archive describes both reception and relaying, so 500 km is not presented here as a verified range for every direct point-to-point link. It is also not a coverage guarantee for another flight.
From demonstration to a measurement plan
A new project should define its measurement objectives in advance: direct reception, hop count, node positions, radio settings and logging completeness. This flight provides a real starting point for discussing high-altitude communications trials.
Based on the team’s archived post-flight account. The figures describe this mission and are not guarantees for future flights. More missions.
