JAXA aims to set unmanned balloon altitude record of 55 km
News On Japan via Japan Times -- Jun 01
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will attempt to send an unmanned scientific balloon to a world-record-breaking altitude of around 55 km.
The state-backed JAXA will launch the ultrathin balloon from its aerospace research field in Taiki in Hokkaido in September, it said Wednesday.
In 2002, the agency set a world record by sending an earlier type of balloon to an altitude of some 53 km from its launchpad in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture.
The upcoming test is the agency's fifth attempt to rewrite the record with its latest type of balloon.
Source: Japan Times
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