COUNTRY’S FIRST BALLOON-MOUNTED INTERNET NETWORK

Uttarakhand Chief minister Trivendra Singh

Rawat unveiled the country’s first balloon-

mounted internet network in a bid to bring

reliable internet access to the Himalayan state’s

most remote areas

•The aerostat balloon which is propelled

by helium gas can go up to 150-500 metre

height

•It has a light 25 km payload which is

equipped with a router, a weather station

and sensitive night vision cameras

NOTES

IIT Mumbai and the Information Technology

Development Agency

Aerostat can float in the air for 14 days

Each aerostat is worth Rs 50 lakh to set-up and can

provide internet up to 7.5 km with the download

speed of 5 Mbps

UTTRAKHAND

Currently, 680 of 16,870 villages in the state lack

mobile connectivity or internet.

This technology will be used in remote areas that

are not connected to the internet, said the minister

at the launch.

NOTES

The balloon can be installed in the appropriate vehicle and taken from one place to another, as required, can be

activated in less time.

Besides, according to experts, the aerostat balloon can help measure some 18 weather and environment related

parametres. “Some of the few parametres are humidity, temperature, wind velocity and high altitude conditions,”

NOTES

•Aerostat technology can be used for surveillance

in emergency situations and real-time monitoring

to guide search and rescue operations

MAIN TYPES OF BALLOONGas balloon - Contrary to the hot-air balloon, the

envelope of which is inflated by hot air, the gas balloon

contains a gas less dense than the air with identical

temperature, generally hydrogen, or helium. The gas

balloon is thus closed hermetic not to let escape the gas

finding it inside.

HOT AIR BALLOON•The hot-air balloon is an aerostat where the lift is

assured by the warmed air contained in the envelope.

The difference of density with the colder, surrounding

air, creates a push assuring the lift (pushed by

Archimède). The preservation in air temperature of the

envelope requires the emport of a fuel and a burner.

AIRSHIP•An airship is an aircraft lighter than air, also called

aerostat, containing devices intended to insure the lift as

well as propulsion systems conferring him a total

steerability. Dirigibles distinguish themselves from other

types of balloons, by their vertical and horizontal

movements.