SiGNL glider flight at BinarySpace High Altitude Balloon launch

Liz Dom
3 min readNov 16, 2018

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SiGNL’s 3D-printed glider, ready for lift off!

Teaming up with BinarySpace, SiGNL has sponsored a launch of our 3D-printed glider from a balloon from the NWU Vaal Triangle Campus in Vanderbijlpark at Binary-06 on Saturday, 17 November 2018.

Join us for an awesome experience with loads to be learned and marvelled at — balloons with a view of space and the Earth’s curvature!

Glider Flight & Land (Binary-06)

Complementary to the main Binary-05 balloon launch, we will be launching a balloon carrying our experimental, 3D-printed glider which will be programmed with a target and once it detaches from the balloon at around 6 km, we believe it will fly to this target.

That is our hypothesis anyway.

This will be our first test of this equipment and is in line with our ethos of experimentation and play (creativity) as a driver of innovation.

Technical Glider Details

- 3D-printed glider, printed using PLA plastic
- Contains a Pixhawk as “the brain” with GPS
- The Pixhawk has various sensors and a GPS module so that it knows how it’s orientated and where it is

Testing our glider’s wings before its epic flight.

Binary-06 is sponsored by SiGNL and we are extremely excited to test this design and would love for you to share in our experience.

High Altitude Balloon Launch (Binary-05)

Prior to the glider launch is Binary-05, a high altitude balloon which will travel a distance of 30 km before hurtling back to Earth, not without capturing a few minutes of incredible footage of space and our planet.

Something to look forward to, this launch will see the camera point towards the Earth so get ready for some Google satellite-like images!

You can follow the balloon live on its journey, too!

See what we mean by “incredible”? BinarySpace High Altitude Balloon Launch, March 2018

Launch Details

Primary Launch Window: 07:00, 17 November 2018 (we start setting up around 6:15)

Depending on the weather or technical difficulties the launch and/or the payload contents can change at any time, check the Telegram group for up to date information.

Launch Site: North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, Vanderbijlpark — 1174 Hendrick Van Eck Boulevard, Vanderbijlpark, 1900

Google Maps Location: https://goo.gl/maps/uar8DZMPFM82

Everyone is welcome to come to join us and if you would like to check out the epic journey of a balloon with a view, have a look at 17 March’s launch.

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