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US 12,643,651 B2Granted
Aerospace balloon system and method of operation
AssigneeSpace Perspective Inc.
InventorTaber MacCallum
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A balloon system, preferably including a balloon and a payload. A balloon, preferably including a plurality of gores, a plurality of load members, and an apex fitting. A method of balloon system operation, preferably including deflating a balloon, and optionally including operating the balloon system in flight and/or landing the balloon system.
Claims17
A system comprising:
- an apex fitting comprising a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion of the apex fitting is connected to the second portion of the apex fitting in a first configuration;
- and
- a balloon connected to the first portion of the apex fitting and the second portion of the apex fitting,
- wherein the apex fitting is operable to disconnect the first portion of the apex fitting from the second portion of the apex fitting, wherein the balloon is configured to tear along a seam in response to disconnection of the first portion of the apex fitting from the second portion of the apex fitting.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- with a balloon connected to a first and a second portion of an apex fitting, descending from the stratosphere into the troposphere;
- and
- after descending into the troposphere and while a projection of the balloon along a gravity vector does not intersect a payload, disconnecting the first portion of the apex fitting from the second portion of the apex fitting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.