Brisbane Startup Stratoship Achieves Breakthrough Stratospheric Flight, Addressing Australia's Satellite Dependency Challenges
Announcement posted by OnlyForward 16 May 2025
BRISBANE, May 16, 2025 — Early-stage aerospace innovator Stratoship has exceeded engineering expectations during recent field testing of its remotely piloted high-altitude airship, designed to reduce Australia's critical dependence on foreign satellites for communications and observation capabilities.
The Brisbane-based startup successfully completed a validation test flight on Monday, May 5th, achieving over eight hours in the stratosphere—a significant milestone for the developing technology.
Developed by Stratoship with support of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub, the platform has a wide range of applications. Stratoship's Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer Williams, will now develop the ship's real-time livestream capability from the stratosphere, as a participant in ARM Hub's Female Founders Scale-up Manufacturing Program.
The test was launched in central west Queensland out of Corfield Racecourse, roughly 85km north of Winton. Launched at 7:55am, the airship reached the stratosphere around 9:00am, maintained stratospheric altitude until approximately 5:45pm, landing at 7:08pm, demonstrating the platform's potential for extended high-altitude operations.
Pictured: Corfield Racecourse pre-launch helium fill
"Our flight on May 5th lasted more than 11 hours including 8 hours in the stratosphere, which exceeded our expectations for this flight," said Daniel Field, Managing Director and Engineering Lead at Stratoship. "Our roadmap to multi-day flights includes use cases for communications, observation - even fire detection."
The achievement comes at a critical time as Australia grapples with significant national security and operational risks due to its reliance on foreign satellite infrastructure, as highlighted in recent policy discussions by the Australian Centre for Space Governance.
Stratoship's technology operates at altitudes of 20 kilometres—twice the height of commercial airliners—and is designed to provide organisations with real-time, high-resolution data and continuous communications capabilities for targeted areas, particularly during natural disasters like bushfires.
In-stratosphere - the view from 65,000 feet
Unlike traditional satellites that offer only intermittent coverage as they orbit, Stratoship's platform can remain fixed over designated areas, delivering persistent monitoring and communications. The airship is payload agnostic, accommodating various sensors and communications equipment based on specific mission requirements.
"While we're still in early engineering development, our recent flight success validates our core design principles," Field added. "We're particularly focused on ensuring gas-tight manufacturing to minimize helium escape, which is crucial for extending stratospheric endurance toward our multi-day operational goals."
ARM Hub is helping Stratoship in participating in the Australian Government's Industry Growth Program (IGP) to streamline its production process, which would accelerate development while ensuring consistent quality as the design moves toward aviation certification.
'ARM Hub has contributed to Stratoship not just with the network that it offers; but also helping us with a lot of the research engineering and decision-making along the way', said Stratoship Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Williams. "If we hadn't been at ARM Hub for the past 12 months we wouldn't be in the same situation we are in today."
"Innovation shown by companies like Stratoship is essential for Australia," said ARM Hub CEO Cori Stewart. "Developing, commercialising and scaling breakthrough ideas for global success is how we build sovereign capability, create high-value jobs, and ensure a future-ready industrial economy."
Stratoship's innovation addresses specific concerns raised by space governance experts about Australia's reliance on foreign partners for space-based services in critical areas such as disaster response, agriculture, and regional connectivity.
A short video highlighting potential use cases for the technology, featuring insights from the founding team, is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaJhvhMbRJc
About Stratoship
Stratoship is an early-stage aerospace innovator based at Brisbane's ARM Hub.
The company is developing remotely piloted high-altitude airships designed to operate in the stratosphere, creating sovereign Australian capability in aerial communications and observation systems that complement satellite technology. For more information, visit https://stratoship.au/.
Contact:
Angela Reed
Director Marketing and Memberships
M: 0430 197 158
