UAS Flight Test
Your Sensor Has to Survive the Stratosphere.
Test It There First.
Before your payload rides a multi-million-dollar HAPS, ride ours. Real high-altitude qualification for stratospheric UAS payloads — EO/IR, SAR, RF and SATCOM datalink, mesh radio, atmospheric sensors. Firm date. Hardware back in 72 hours. US-based, US-person operations.
Are We the Right Test Provider for Your Payload?
We're built for one thing in the UAS world: qualifying payloads destined for the stratosphere. Our environment is 60,000 to 100,000 ft — the operating band of HAPS, HALE aircraft, and high-altitude ISR balloons, and almost nothing else in UAS.
We're a strong fit if your payload will fly on:
- A HAPS or HALE platform (Zephyr-, PHASA-35-, Horus-, Skydweller-class)
- A high-altitude ISR balloon program (Army HAP-DS / HELIOS-class, World View, Aerostar-class)
- Any mission that puts your sensor above ~55,000 ft
We're probably not your provider if your payload is designed for operations below 30,000 ft — delivery, agriculture, inspection, standard surveillance, FPV, or Group 1–3 tactical UAS. The stratospheric environment delta is meaningless for those, and we won't pretend otherwise.
And to be clear about what we test: we qualify the payload that rides your platform — its survival and function at altitude. We do not test airframes, flight dynamics, or airworthiness. The balloon carries your payload gondola; it is not your aircraft.
Payloads We Qualify for High-Altitude Operation
EO/IR imaging — MWIR/LWIR focal-plane arrays, gimbals, germanium optics
RF / datalink / SATCOM — real stratospheric propagation, link-margin validation
Mesh-network & tactical radios — propagation a chamber can't replicate
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) — thermal, antenna, and power-budget validation
Atmospheric & scientific sensors — methane, ozone, weather, radiation
Edge-AI / autonomy — thermal throttling and radiation bit-flip exposure above 60,000 ft
If your payload is bound for the stratosphere and it's not on this list, ask us.
Two Ways to Fly
Flight Qualification Service (FQS)
Rapid qualification of a single stratospheric payload at 80,000–100,000 ft. 2–6 lb, 2–3 hours. $3,400/lb + Mission Access Fee, firm-fixed.
Learn About FQS for UAS →Integrated Flight Service (IFS)
Extended-duration, real-time-commanded qualification of an integrated payload at sustained 60,000–80,000 ft for 3–6 hours. 4–20 lb. $3,700/lb + Mission Access Fee, firm-fixed.
Learn About IFS for UAS →100K ft
Max Altitude
2–80 lb
Payload Range
2–6 hrs
Flight Duration
72 hrs
Hardware Returned
Private missions carry payloads up to 80 lb — beyond the 20 lb rideshare limit. Request a Private Mission →
The Test Other Options Can't Give a Payload Supplier
A Real Environment a Chamber Can't Fake
−65°C, under 1% pressure, cosmic radiation, and real RF propagation — all at once, in the band your payload will operate in. A thermovac chamber can't reproduce real path loss, real radiation bit-flip, or real stratospheric flight. We don't simulate the stratosphere; we fly you to it.
A US-Based, US-Person Platform
Defense ISR payloads — SAR, EW, SIGINT, fire-control optics — often need a test environment that's US-located and US-person-operated. StratoStar flies from multiple locations across the U.S., operated by US persons. A Sensitive Payload option is available — data segregation, access controls, customer-only commanding, and handling under NDA via our Sensitive Payload Addendum.
Commercial Access, a Firm Date
DoD ranges need classified-program access; HAPS developers' flight tests are closed to outside payloads; NASA Flight Opportunities is queued 12–24 months with no firm date. StratoStar is the option you can actually book: a published Flight Test Calendar, a firm-fixed price within an SBIR Phase II budget, and hardware back in 72 hours.