iHAB - Iowa High Altitude Balloon
The purpose of the iHAB (Iowa High Altitude Balloon) Project is to design & build a vehicle to fly into Near Space. Near space is the region of Earth's atmosphere that lies between 65,000 and 325,000–350,000 feet (20 to 100 km) above sea level, encompassing the stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. A more understandable definition would be above where a commercial airliner flies but below the realm of an orbiting satellite. The rea is of interest for military surveillance purposes, as well as to commercial interests for communications. Currently, craft that fly in near space (nearcraft) are generally high altitude balloons, blimps (non-rigid airships) and sounding rockets.