New Delhi: Hyderabad-based Red Balloon Aerospace will soon launch a super-pressure balloon (SPB) to provide a host of services, including telecommunications coverage across underserved and rural regions, the company said on Wednesday, April 22.

SPBs are high-altitude balloons designed to maintain internal pressure greater than the outside atmospheric pressure, helping them to carry payloads for extended durations — usually for about 100 days.

The Red Balloon Aerospace’s SPB will carry a high-resolution imaging payload, delivering between 25 and 75 centimetre resolution, among a broader suite of sensor capabilities.

The balloon will be placed in a high-altitude stratospheric layer between 20 and 40 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.

This will allow the balloon to provide telecommunications coverage, monitor large-scale industrial networks spanning hundreds of kilometres, support disaster-management operations across entire states and enable continuous spatial observation for strategic applications, according to the company.

In a statement, Sireesh Pallikonda, co-founder and COO of Red Balloon Aerospace, said, “We are building towers in the sky that bring connectivity to every village, tribal belt and coastline where a traditional tower cannot reach.”

The launch is expected to take place in the second quarter of this year.