Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 03:47am on 28 May 2026,Thursday Science
Red Balloon Aerospace successfully launched India’s first indigenous private super-pressure balloon carrying commercial payloads, marking a major milestone in the country’s near-space ambitions. The company’s VISTA platform rose nearly 25 kilometres above Earth during Mission SANA from Vijayawada, operating within the stratosphere between aircraft and satellites. Founded in 2025, the startup achieved commercial operational flight within eight months. The mission carried payloads from seven national and international partners, including biological experiments, propulsion systems and earth observation technologies. CEO C V S Kiran said the achievement places India among only five nations with indigenous stratospheric hydrogen balloon capability alongside the US, France, Japan and China.
