OLNEY, Ill. (Oct. 8, 2026) – Aerostratospheric, an Illinois nonprofit, will reveal the xAirship-S (the xAirship model S) prototype, afloat on display, at the High Altitude Science Summit on Saturday, March 13, 2027, from 10 AM to 2 PM CT at Olney City Park in Olney, Illinois. Aerostratospheric hosts a featured guest-vendor session at the High Altitude Science Summit*. Summit attendees will be the first to see the xAirship-S in person at Olney City Park.

The xAirship-S is Aerostratospheric's smaller airship platform, a fraction of the size of the xAirship. It is designed as a custom helium-filled silver blimp envelope paired with stabilized thrust vectoring for intuitive control.

The 2-gore envelope is designed to be heat-welded from a robust aluminum/nylon/polyethylene multilayer material and manufactured in Germany by Windreiter. Its shape was designed with the Gertler Shape Generator after J. Eissing. The xAirship-S will be custom assembled in Olney, Illinois.

Design specifications for the xAirship-S envelope:
Volume: 1,021 liters
Length: 3.17 m
Diameter: 0.79 m
Envelope weight: 195 g
Expected lift at sea level with helium: 826 g

The xAirship-S is designed to operate at low altitudes (under 400 feet above ground) and is intended primarily for atmospheric observation, scientific monitoring, and research. It is designed to fly with a 2-channel RC remote controller and a lightweight, compact 1-cell 350 mAh battery.

“The xAirship, a massive blimp … I'd like to bring them back,” said Jeremy David Higgs, President of Aerostratospheric, on WCIA 3's Behind the Forecast with Kevin Lighty. The xAirship-S is designed as a smaller first step toward that larger xAirship concept.

The xAirship-S is a prototype in development and is not offered for sale. Summit details are at https://highaltitudescience.online and https://midwestsds.com/summit.html. Researchers, educators, and partners interested in data collaboration can reach Aerostratospheric at [email protected] or book a 15-minute call at https://calendly.com/aerostratospheric/15min.

Envelope by Windreiter, Germany.

*The High Altitude Science Summit is produced by Aerostratospheric. (https://midwestsds.com/privacy.html#summit)

About Aerostratospheric

Aerostratospheric is an Illinois nonprofit. It designs, builds, and flies lightweight high-altitude platforms to collect and publicly release high-quality atmospheric data. Science flights are conducted under FAA Part 101, and the resulting datasets are released openly for public scientific and educational use. Corporate office: 801 S. West Street, Suite 101, Olney, IL 62450. Launch operations: Casey, Illinois. Web: https://www.aerostratospheric.com/

Media contact
Aerostratospheric
[email protected]
(603) 600-2376
801 S. West Street, Suite 101, Olney, IL 62450

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