THE AERIAL BASE OF THE FUTURE
An autonomous stratospheric platform driven by artificial intelligence, maintaining a near-fixed position at 25 km altitude through intelligent exploitation of stratospheric winds — a permanent aerial hub for energy, communications, and drone fleet recharging.
No satellite. No aircraft. Something entirely new —
a quasi-geo-stationary platform powered by 850 kW of solar energy,
operating silently at the edge of space.
Orbital Lift repositions the stratosphere as a permanent operational space — neither satellite nor aircraft, but something entirely new: an AI-driven near-fixed platform.
BIG B is not a surveillance balloon — it is an aerial power plant. Its triple-junction GaAs solar panels (efficiency >34%) generate up to 850 kW. Mini-winches lower charged batteries 10 km below, permanently powering a drone fleet — no landing, no ground maintenance.
The ultra-matte black RAM (Radar Absorbing Material) envelope gives BIG B a near-zero radar signature. The ventral nacelle and cables are designed to minimise optical reflectance. The platform operates in stratospheric invisibility — above defended areas, out of reach of conventional countermeasures.
Each drone in the fleet is connected by ultra-thin cable to the nacelle. It receives power in real time, with no limited battery, no base return. BIG B becomes the brain and heart of a persistent swarm — 24/7 ISR coverage, comms relay, emergency response.
The embedded RL-Wind model ingests ECMWF weather forecasts in real time and computes optimal 3D trajectories to maintain station. The system learns continuously — every drift improves the model. No comparable technology exists at this level of integration.
Every component of BIG B is optimised for survival in the stratospheric environment: -56°C, 25 hPa, intense UV radiation, with no possibility of direct human intervention.
Ultra-matte radar-absorbing material (roughness 0.98). RCS < 0.01 m². Layered carbon-ferrite composite, tested in anechoic chamber.
Efficiency >34% at altitude (low temp, unfiltered spectrum). IOR 3.5, controlled iridescence. Silver bus-bars (metallic 1.0, roughness 0.08).
4 motorised mini-winches in nacelle. High-strength steel cables Ø1.2 mm, deploying 10 km to drones. LiFePO₄ battery pods at 40% of cable length.
PPO neural network trained on 10 years of ECMWF data. 6-hour prediction window, altitude adjustment every 30 min.
Military grey nacelle (metallic 0.3, roughness 0.6). 4 continuously powered quadrotor drones. Winch deployment up to 10 km descent.
Redundant Ku-band satellite link. 1 Gbps downlink. Embedded AES-256 encryption. UHF relay for drones. Latency < 200 ms end-to-end.
The heart of BIG B is its algorithmic brain: a reinforcement learning agent trained to exploit stratospheric wind structures to maintain a near-fixed position without active propulsion. Inspired by BalMan and OLAD architectures, it orchestrates precisely timed ascent/descent cycles.
BIG B opens unprecedented operational capabilities, halfway between satellite and aircraft. Six priority application domains, one shared infrastructure.
24/7 optical and radar coverage of a 1,000 km² area. Unmatched persistence versus conventional drones. Continuous multi-target detection, tracking and identification.
Defense · NATO4G/5G coverage in extended dead zones. Post-disaster deployment in 24h. 1 Gbps bandwidth. Acts as a flying antenna for areas inaccessible to ground towers.
Telecoms · EmergencyTracking GHG emissions, wildfires and deforestation. Scientific instruments in modular nacelle. High-frequency data for IPCC climate models.
Climate · ESA · CNESBIG B as a permanent aerial recharging station. Batteries lowered by winch, swapped, raised back. Drone fleet with unlimited endurance over the operational area.
Logistics · DronesDeployment in 24h above a disaster zone. Coordination of rescue operations, damage mapping, communication relay for ground teams without infrastructure.
Humanitarian · UNExperimentation platform in the stratospheric environment. 350 kg modular nacelle for scientific instruments. Continuous data stream, unlike traditional sounding balloons.
Research · CNES · NASABIG B — Stratospheric Quasi-Geo-Stationary Platform
Classification: DUAL-USE · DEEPTECH
Programme: Orbital Lift — MEDIAMIX
Version: CONCEPT REV. 2.4 · 2025
Altitude: 25,000 m ASL
Payload: 350 kg (batteries + drones + instruments)
Solar Power: 850 kW peak (GaAs triple-junction)
Station-keeping: ±40 km quasi-geo radius
BIG B — Stratospheric Quasi-Geo-Stationary Platform
Classification: DUAL-USE · DEEPTECH
Programme: Orbital Lift — MEDIAMIX
Version: CONCEPT REV. 2.4 · 2025
Altitude: 25,000 m ASL
Payload: 350 kg (batteries + drones + scientific instruments)
This document presents the consolidated technical specifications of the BIG B stratospheric platform, including the drone battery charging subsystem, the RAM stealth envelope, the RL-Wind AI navigation module, and the winch-cable deployment architecture.
CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT — ORBITAL LIFT / MEDIAMIX — Distribution restricted to authorised partners under NDA. Technical specifications subject to change without notice. © 2025 MEDIAMIX ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
| Parameter | Value | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altitude (ops) | 25,000 | m ASL | Stable stratospheric wind layer |
| Altitude (range) | 18,000 – 32,000 | m ASL | RL-Wind navigation envelope |
| Disc diameter | 60 | m | From OBJ model — RAM_Envelope |
| Total mass (dry) | 1,200 | kg | Excl. gas buoyancy envelope |
| Payload mass | 350 | kg | Batteries + drones + sensors |
| Mission endurance | 30 – 90 | days | Function of wind conditions |
| Quasi-geo radius | ±40 | km | Target coordinate station-keeping |
| Ambient temperature | -56 | °C | Stratospheric standard at 25 km |
| Ambient pressure | 25 | hPa | ISA standard atmosphere |
| UV flux | ~1,400 | W/m² | Unfiltered solar spectrum |
Triple-junction Gallium Arsenide cells deliver efficiency >34% in the stratospheric environment where low temperatures and unfiltered solar flux combine to maximise power output.
IOR: 3.5 · Roughness: 0.05 · Metallic: 0.0 · Bus-bar material: Ag (metallic 1.0, roughness 0.08)
Total electrical power available for platform systems, battery charging, communications, and AI compute. Power budget allocates 420 kW to battery pod charging, 180 kW to propulsion/navigation, 250 kW reserve.
Concentric ring layout: 11 rings × R = 0, 3, 6, 9 ... 30 m from OBJ data
| Parameter | Value | Unit | Specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of winches | 4 | units | Symmetrically placed on nacelle, R = 7.5 m from axis |
| Cable length | 10,000 | m | High-strength steel, Ø 1.2 mm |
| Cable tensile strength | 2,400 | N | Safety factor ×4 on max pod weight |
| Battery pod position | 4,200 | m | 42% of cable length — optimal thermal/aero trade |
| Battery chemistry | LiFePO₄ | High cycle life, safe at -40°C with thermal wrap | |
| Pod capacity | 120 | kWh | Per pod — 4 pods = 480 kWh total deployed |
| Charge rate (pod) | 105 | kW | From solar bus via conductive cable |
| Full charge cycle | ~68 | min | Per pod at nominal solar irradiance |
| Drone power delivery | 8 – 24 | kW | Per drone, continuous via tether cable |
| Drone altitude (ops) | 15,000 | m ASL | 10 km below BIG B — nominal deployment |
| Winch speed | 2.5 | m/s | Deploy / retrieve rate |
| Deployment time | 67 | min | Full 10 km cable extension |
Material: RAM composite (carbon-ferrite matrix)
Surface roughness: 0.98 · Metallic: 0.0
RCS < 0.01 m² across X/Ku band
UV resistance: tested 1,000+ h at 25 km
Solar cells: dark blue (base 2,5,24)
Nacelle: military grey (roughness 0.6)
Cable Ø: 1.2 mm — near-invisible above 5 km
Minimum reflection geometry at solar noon
Platform equilibrium: -52°C (ambient -56°C)
Nacelle: active liquid cooling
Battery pods: MLI thermal blankets
IR contrast vs background: <2°C at 25 km
| Parameter | Value / Description |
|---|---|
| Algorithm | PPO — Proximal Policy Optimization (reinforcement learning) |
| Training data | 10 years ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis, 137 pressure levels, 0.25° resolution |
| Input state vector | Wind U/V/W at ±5 altitude levels, platform position, target offset, battery state |
| Action space | Continuous: helium valve position, ballast drop rate, airbrake angle |
| Planning horizon | 6 hours ahead, 15-minute resolution steps |
| Adjustment frequency | Every 30 minutes, real-time correction at 5-min intervals |
| Station-keeping accuracy | ±18 km median after 7-day warm-up, ±12 km after 30 days |
| Onboard compute | NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin (60 TOPS), radiation-hardened enclosure |
| Model update | Satellite uplink Ku-band — delta weights every 6 hours |
| Fallback mode | Pre-programmed altitude schedule based on seasonal climatology |
Complete technical documentation: BIG B 3D interactive model, drone solar charging system, and stratospheric balloon visualisation.
BIG B is the first commercial quasi-geo-stationary stratospheric platform. We seek visionary partners for the demonstrator phase and operational commissioning.
RL-Wind AI, long-range winch-drone system and GaAs stealth envelope = 4+ years of hard-to-replicate R&D. A durable competitive moat.
Defense, telecoms, climate, logistics: BIG B addresses 4 multi-billion markets simultaneously with one shared infrastructure. Aerial SaaS model.
Loon is closed. Airbus Zephyr is limited to 75 kg. BIG B is the only platform combining 350 kg payload, 850 kW solar and station-keeping AI.
3 patents filed (RAM envelope + winch system + RL-Wind). Software developed in-house. CNES & ESA partnerships under negotiation.
Investors, industrial partners, government agencies — join the BIG B project.