Birbhum In Bengal Chosen As Second Launchpad For High-Altitude Balloon

A balloon of 100 feet in diameter was launched by ICSP, which gets 'activated' at a height of about 40 km from the earth's surface.

Chandrapur: Six decades after the maiden high-altitude balloon facility was launched in Hyderabad, the Indian Centre for Space Physics (ICSP) has come up with a second such launch centre in the Birbhum district of West Bengal.

Located 18 km off Suri, the district headquarters, the launch centre has come up in Chandrapur village where a high-altitude balloon was launched by scientists to analyse atmospheric data. A balloon of about 100 feet in diameter was launched, which gets 'activated' at a height of about 40 km from the earth's surface, releasing its payload, which eventually relays the data back, said a scientist of the Kolkata-based ICSP.

Sandeep Chakraborty, the founder of ICSP, told Etv Bharat that balloons of a variegated range of radius will be launched from the centre in the coming days. "The importance of this centre is immense in analysing atmospheric data. We intend to release balloons with diameters ranging from 20-100 feet and each of them will have the capacity to relay invaluable information for our research work," Chakraborty said.

Made of seven microns of polyethene, a balloon weighing nine kg with various advanced components attached to it. The hydrogen-filled balloon is lifted by the weight of the atmosphere and after ascending around 40 km above the ground, the balloon's payload gets activated.

Chakraborty said data on gases present in the atmosphere, the activity in the sun’s rays, and the presence of any cosmic particles are some of the important questions relayed by the payload. Along with all these, the balloon gathers various weather-related information easily and helps analyse weather patterns.

Chakraborty said ICSP has launched balloons 114 times, but this is the first time a dedicated launching centre has been set up organisation. The location was chosen after a thorough analysis of the topography and geographical location. As Chandrapur village is far from the Bangladesh border, there is a chance of the balloons' safe return.

"This space in Birbhum is suitable for research. In the coming days, we will be able to do research in the upper atmosphere. This launching centre will go a long way and will pave the way for complex atmospheric data analysis in Eastern India," he said.