This story has been going around the net for the past few days. And probably for many of you smart people out there, it’s probably an inevitable outcome of our government’s (the USA) infatuation with drones.
But, just like my aside “The Poor Man’s LEO satellite” about the North Dakota balloons being used for imagery, this just shows how airbreathing assets can give a little more oomph to our imagery constellations. Aside from low cost, which is a big deal, these drones also give a “loitering” capability, or persistence over weather areas NASA is interested in. Low earth orbiting satellite constellations are limited in this aspect.
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- This Spy Balloon Will Soon Float Over the Fracking Fields of North Dakota (blacklistednews.com)
The Mad Spaceball 