Project HALO -- High Altitude Lift-Off
A Project of the Huntsville Alabama L5 Society
Executive Summary

Project HALO, for "High Altitude Lift Off", was conceived to 
explore the scientific and economic potential of using high 
altitude balloons as launch platforms for rockets.

The balloon-launched rocket concept, known as "rockoon," was 
first put to use by Dr. James Van Allen in the 1950’s.  
Rockoons allowed Dr. Van Allen to conduct pioneering studies 
of the upper atmosphere.  Because of increased efficiency for 
small rockets above the drag of Earth’s atmosphere, Dr. Van 
Allen was able to boost the altitude attained by the Deacon 
rocket from 60 thousand feet to over 300 thousand feet.  As 
larger military rockets capable of reaching orbit from the 
ground became available, rockoons were for the most part 
abandoned.  The Van Allen Radiation Belt was discovered by a 
ground-launched probe.

The Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5) chapter of the 
National Space Society (NSS), thus started Project HALO as a 
means to use today’s better balloon and small rocket technology 
to push the rockoon concept to its full potential as an 
economical means of reaching extremely high altitudes.


Project HALO Phases

Project HALO will consist of several distinct phases, each of 
which in itself will provide opportunities for HAL5 to build the 
managerial and technical skills and resources to proceed to the 
next step.  Each step will provide unique opportunities for 
student involvement, original research on the edge-of-space 
environment, and suggest commercial uses of rockoons.

Phase 0 -- Subsystem Test -- Balloons carrying rocket 
components and subsystems to altitudes of 20 miles.

Phase I -- Proof-of-Concept -- Rockets launched from high-
altitude balloons.

Phase II -- Operational Rockoons -- Sub-orbital rockoons 
providing routine cheap access to space and the near-earth 
micro-gravity environment.


HALO Phase 0, Subsystem Test

This step takes advantage of well-developed and cheap balloon 
technology for carrying payloads above 99 percent of Earth’s 
atmosphere.  It consists of attaching a payload to a helium-filled 
balloon and sending it to an altitude of 20 miles or more.  A 
balloon-borne platform will be the basis of all HALO missions.

Because of the low cost, this phase can be repeated many times 
during the overall program to prove the space-worthiness of 
components of subsequent phases.  It is in Phase 0 that student 
participation is likely to be broadest.  Principles of radio and 
satellite communication can be demonstrated.  Student-
conceived experiments having to do with ozone and other 
atmospheric phenomena are anticipated.

Since this phase allows access to temperature extremes and 
near-vacuum conditions similar to those encountered in orbit 
and beyond, experiments in space life-support systems could be 
carried out here.  Astronomy from such a platform could take 
advantage of conditions similar to those enjoyed by the space 
telescope.


HALO Phase I, Proof-of-Concept

This phase will use balloons as launch platforms.  Its objective 
will be the development of the family of vehicles which will 
carry HALO to completion.  Small, experimental rockets 
previously tested on the ground will be evaluated for 
performance, safety and practicality at high altitude.  Systems 
integration and launch procedures will be perfected.

Student experiments during this phase will likely deal with 
rocket technology, effects of acceleration, vehicle tracking and 
possible recovery.  For safety reasons, most Phase I missions 
will be flown from coastal regions.


HALO Phase II, Operational Rockoons

As proficiency with high altitude rocket launches is achieved, a 
major milestone for HALO Phase II will be to meet or exceed 
the altitude record for ground-launched, privately-developed 
rockets.  Our goal would be to reach such a height with a larger 
payload and smaller budget than is practical for a rocket that 
must plow through Earth’s atmosphere.

Unique opportunities for experiments exist in this phase as 
well.  On-board cameras could take photographs or transmit 
live video from this vantage point which would cover hundreds 
of square miles of the planet’s surface.  Microgravity payloads 
would experience a "weightless" environment for at least a 
minute or two -- enough time to do some short experiments.  
Again, the emphasis is on cheap access to space for student and 
private experimenters on tight budgets.


Goals for Project HALO

It is our hope that Project HALO will demonstrate that extreme 
altitudes are reachable by amateurs; that by pushing rockoon 
technology to its limits, we will inspire ourselves and those who 
participate with us as student experimenters or commercial 
developers to push technology and ourselves to reach ever 
higher.

While we at HAL5 and NSS support and applaud the 
achievements of NASA and other national space programs, we 
believe that the scale of human space activity we envision will 
come about only when the public has frequent, affordable 
access to space.  With Project HALO, we hope to help lay the 
groundwork of organization, technology, and imagination that 
will make cheap access to space a reality for us all.

For more information, contact HALO Project Manager Gregory 
Allison at (205) 859-5538.  E-Mail:  hal5@iquest.com

Web Site: http://iquest.com/~hal5/HALO/