The stratosphere reaches the edge of space, as high as 50km in the sky. However, this does not mean that it doesn’t affect and correlate to the weather we experience far below on the surface.

These weather patterns and events that occur are undetectable without high-altitude weather balloons to measure them. They have been used to detect weather since as early as 1896, and thousands of balloons are launched each day so that we can have more accurate weather predictions and forecasts.

G(A)SP – Gungahlin (Almost) Space Project – is our stratospheric weather balloon project, planned to be launched in October 2016. The aim of the flight is to reach “almost” space, and to gather data about the conditions of the weather in the stratosphere using sensors and electronics on-board the payload. The apogee of the balloon’s flight will be at approximately 30km, before it pops and the payload floats safely to the ground with the use of a parachute. The data gathered will give insight to the weather conditions the balloon experiences during its journey.

It will also give the opportunity to gather data from the ozone (15-30km), about greenhouse gases and pollution in the high atmosphere.