India's first super pressure balloon launched in Vijayawada

New Delhi ( Pallavi Srivastava ) : Indian aerospace startup RaudraNex Space Technologies achieved a milestone on Wednesday with the STRATO-X1 mission, launched from Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium aboard India’s first Super Pressure Balloon platform.

The mission served as a concept and operational validation exercise, designed to test system readiness and collect data for future aerospace applications. STRATO-X1 also carried REPS Mk-I, an experimental platform exploring air-breathing cold plasma propulsion.

Prakash Navadeep, co-founder of RaudraNex Space Technologies, said the mission was not intended for full propulsion qualification but focused on validating onboard systems in real flight conditions.

Initial observations indicated that the payload completed its planned flight profile and functioned in line with mission objectives,” he said. A detailed post-flight analysis is under way to assess performance. By operating on Super Pressure Balloon platform, RaudraNex demonstrated how private aerospace firms can transition advanced technologies from laboratory research into operational environments.