What Is It?

HabSat is a complete electronics platform for high-altitude ballooning. It is designed to make near-space exploration accessible to students, educators, makers, hobbyists, or anyone who has ever wanted to launch their own spacecraft.

The HabSat Flight Module is a compact 10 x 10 x 7 cm payload weighing less than 300 g. It is designed to be carried by a weather balloon over 30 km (100,000 ft) above the Earth. This is high enough to see some slight curvature of the horizon, the blackness of space, and a view you'll only see during spaceflight.

While it's up there, the HabSat records its journey, measures the environment around it, transmits live telemetry to the ground, and sends back images while it is still flying, like the ones below.

After approximately 2-3 hours, the balloon bursts in the stratosphere and the HabSat descends safely back to Earth via parachute to fly another day. You'll use our ground station software to track and chase the HabSat in real-time so you'll always know where it is.

The HabSat is in final development and is coming soon! Please subscribe to our mailing list above if you'd like to be notified when it becomes available.

Your Near-Space Mission

A HabSat mission begins with planning on the ground. This includes selecting a launch location and time, and predicting where it will land using the software we provide.

During the flight, the HabSat will stream back to you:

• GPS position and altitude
• Temperature, pressure, and relative humidity
• 3-axis acceleration and motion
• Image thumbnails
• Predicted flight path and landing location

The HabSat also records all of the above telemetry, as well as additional high-resolution images, to an onboard SD card for recovery after landing. However, even if the payload is lost (good mission planning will make this unlikely), you will still have the telemetry and images you received during the flight.

Complete Flight System

No coding, electronics, radio experience, or complex setup is required.

A complete HabSat flight system consists of four main components, all of which you can buy from Midnight Make. For maximum flexibility, the balloon and parachute are optional purchases if you already have your own.

• HabSat Near-Space Flight Module (this product)
• HabSat Ground Station (coming soon)
• Rocketman 3ft High-Altitude Parachute (optional)
• Kaymont 600g High-Altitude Balloon (optional)

The HabSat has been flight-tested with the recommended 600g Kaymont balloon and Rocketman 3ft parachute that we sell, and has been specifically designed with those parts in mind, but you can use your own compatible balloon or parachute if you prefer.

The HabSat Ground Station (coming soon) connects to a laptop and communicates with the HabSat Flight Module over long-range radio. No separate radio equipment is required.

Here are some basic specifications:

• Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 7 cm
• Weight: approximately 283 g
• Telemetry interval: 5 seconds
• Image interval: Approximately 1-2 minutes
• Max demonstrated altitude: 33 km (108,000 ft)
• Reusable: Yes
• Automatic onboard image and data storage: Yes
• Ground station required: Yes (coming soon)

HabSat Ops

This is our desktop mission-control software used to monitor the HabSat's flight. It displays the HabSat's position, predicts where it will land, displays streaming telemetry, and contains an image gallery of received image thumbnails. All of the received data is also automatically saved to disk so you won't lose it after the mission.

High-altitude balloons can travel a long way before landing! Some of our missions have flown 100 km away. An important feature of HabSat Ops is the integrated flight prediction system that allows you to predict flight paths up to 1 week in advance, and also predict in real-time during a flight where your balloon is likely to land. This is done by using real-time atmospheric wind forecasts combined with our custom physics model. This makes flight planning, tracking, and recovery part of the mission experience.

Telemetry data includes:

• Up time and boot count
• Battery voltage
• Internal temperature
• GPS position and altitude
• GPS health statistics
• Internal temperature
• Relative humidity
• Barometric pressure
• 3-axis linear acceleration
• Peripheral (radio, camera, SD card, etc.) health status
• Other telemetry and health statistics

In addition to telemetry, the HabSat Flight Module also transmits image thumbnails (160 x 120) every 1-2 minutes.

HabSat Ops can also be used to transmit commands to the HabSat to do the following:

• Adjust the telemetry interval
  
• Adjust the camera capture interval
• Start or stop the camera to manage power usage
• Start or stop an audible alarm to help with locating nearby after landing
• Remote reboot in case of a problem

Together, the HabSat Flight Module, HabSat Ground Station, and HabSat Ops software provide an integrated system from launch planning to flight to recovery.

Touch Space From the Ground

During flight, the HabSat Flight Module transmits a constant telemetry data stream every 5 seconds, and transmits image thumbnails every 1-2 minutes. This allows you to track everything in real-time and watch your flight unfold from your laptop.

This means that students, spectators, or other participants can see what the flight module sees while it is up there.

One Mission, Many Projects

HabSat is intended for students, educators, hobbyists, engineers, and space enthusiasts. Possible projects include:

• Atmospheric science experiments
• Flight dynamics analysis
• Image processing
• Radio communications experiments
• GPS and navigation projects
• Weather-model comparison
• Data visualization
• Payload and enclosure design
• Mission planning and trajectory prediction
• Near-space Earth photography

A single mission can touch logistics, physics, meteorology, radio, mechanical design, data science, and photography.

Flight Proven

The HabSat has already flown multiple high-altitude missions. Our development systems have reached as high as 33 km (108,000 ft), transmitting telemetry and images throughout the entire flight before returning safely to Earth for recovery.

We've used these flights to refine our hardware, ground station, flight-prediction tools, and operating procedures that will become part of the HabSat system.

Below are some images from a real HabSat mission, from launch preparation through recovery.

For Classrooms, Clubs, and Makers

The HabSat is being developed for:

• High schools and universities
• STEM and engineering programs
• Robotics and aerospace clubs
• Makerspaces
• Amateur radio and ballooning groups
• Independent experimenters

Whether your goal is a student launch, or a deeper engineering curriculum built around mission planning, the HabSat provides a common platform for the entire project.

What You Need To Launch

Midnight Make provides the electronics, mission control software, balloon, and parachute. You can also provide your own balloon and parachute instead, if you wish. Lastly, you will also need a lift gas such as helium. Helium is commonly available from party balloon suppliers, welding gas suppliers, or industrial gas suppliers. (We usually use party balloon suppliers because they're low-fuss.)

We provide complete guidance for selecting a balloon, parachute, and helium, as well as thorough guides for planning the mission, preparing the payload, operating the mission safely, and performing chase and recovery.

High-altitude balloon missions are subject to applicable aviation and radio regulations, so operators are responsible for ensuring that their launch complies with the requirements in their location.

What About Regulations? Is This Legal?

This is the most common question we get asked (yes, even more so than "is the Earth actually round?")

For the recommended HabSat configuration and hardware, the payload is designed to fall well below the payload thresholds that determine whether certain unmanned free balloon requirements of 14 CFR Part 101 apply in the United States. This means that the standard FAA notification requirements (e.g., a Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM) generally do not apply to this configuration.

If you modify the payload or use a different flight configuration, you are responsible for verifying that your mission remains compliant with applicable regulations.

If you are not in the United States, you will need to familiarize yourself with your country's regulations regarding unmanned free balloons and whether you can legally and safely operate this system.

Hundreds of thousands of high-altitude balloons are launched globally every year for weather observation, research, education, and amateur experiments. With appropriate mission planning and operating procedures, they can be flown safely and responsibly.

Coming Soon

The HabSat is currently undergoing its final round of hardware and software development and testing.

The core flight system and software has already been successfully flight-tested multiple times, and we're now finalizing the production ground station, mission software, guides, and kit experience.

Expected availability: 2026

Questions? Get in Touch

If you're an educator, school, university, club, or organization considering a near-space project, we'd especially like to hear from you! We're currently talking with prospective users about their programs, timelines, and how they would like to use the HabSat.

Please get in touch if you'd like to learn more or if you have any questions!