Rideshare Program

Want to test your technology or capability on a real-world stratospheric flight? It’s easier and more accessible than you think. Commencing April 2025, Stratoship is taking rideshare payloads on our R&D test flights. 

Our stratospheric flights serve as a validation environment between ground testing and deployment that offers benefits including:

  • A space-like environment for testing. It's the closest you'll get to space, without going to space.

  • Test flights planned at 6-week intervals, so you can rapidly iterate and re-test any payload.

  • Unlike a space flight, you get your payload back at the end of the flight.

  • More time in the stratosphere per flight compared to a balloon, and we have a propulsion system for manoeuvring and positioning.

Payload rideshare can be used for testing, research or data collection, and is ideal for any organisation looking to explore capabilities from the stratosphere or test in a near-space environment. Prices are heavily discounted for our 2025 flight campaign. Why wait for a satellite or weather balloon when you can jump aboard the Stratoship today?

Interested? We’re making the process as straightforward as we can: 

  1. Tell us about your payload using the form below: its weight, dimensions, power draw, the required field of view (if any), and how many antennas it has, such as GPS.

    If you want to discuss things first, let us know by filling out the form below and we’ll be in touch with you. Let us know if you need us to sign an NDA.

  2. We provide you with a firm quote and indicative timing. 

  3. You send your payload to our Brisbane (Australia) facility for integration. 

  4. We fly your payload on a test flight in central Queensland, Australia. You’re welcome to make your own arrangements to attend. 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We’re conducting an R&D test flight campaign for our prototype high-altitude airship through 2025. We are primarily testing the Stratoship’s propulsion and control system.

    We will have spare payload capacity on each test flight. We’re inviting anyone who wants to join us on the R&D journey to test their technology in the stratosphere. 

  • We’re open to payloads of all kinds: cameras, sensors, communications devices, science experiments, and even art projects. So long as it weighs less than 10 kilograms (22 lbs), can be safely secured, and doesn’t interfere with other payloads or systems, we can almost certainly carry it for you. 

  • We’re aiming for the stratosphere, above 60,000 feet (18.3 kilometres). Please bear in mind, these are experimental R&D test flights, and we will be changing aspects of each flight.

  • The first few test flights are expected to last around 4 to 6 hours from launch to landing, including around 2 to 4 hours in the stratosphere. We’re planning to progress to longer-duration flights later in the 2025 campaign.

  • Yes you can. We are planning flights every 6 weeks from April 2025. Contact us if you’d like to book on a future flight.

  • At this stage, we’re planning to fly once every 6 weeks from April 2025 through to November 2025.

  • We have already obtained regulatory approval for our 2025 test flight campaign. We will launch from a specific location North of Winton in outback Queensland, and fly above that area. The region consists of agricultural grassland, used mostly for cattle and sheep farming.

  • We’re able to fly at day or night. Our first couple of flights in 2025 will launch whenever the conditions are right, meaning they could happen at any time of day or night. Later in the test flight campaign, we’ll be able to plan specific daytime, nighttime and multi-day flights. If your payload has a specific time of day requirement, let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.

  • A successful test flight campaign in 2025 will open the door for us to fly in more locations, and to conduct more targeted flight profiles. If you have a specific location or time requirement, contact us. We offer other services which may suit your needs better, and will be able to recommend a path forward that suits your requirements.

  • Rideshare payloads start at just $4,900 AUD on our heavily discounted rate available during the 2025 flight test campaign.

    The exact cost will depend on your payload’s weight, size, integration complexity, and requirements. The cost will also depend on the amount of outcome assurance you require.

  • For our 2025 campaign, we’re flying a prototype. It’s not yet proven, and it’s far from refined. We’re conducting these flights first and foremost as R&D test flights to develop our own stratospheric capability. Things can and do go wrong. 

    The great thing for you is that we’re offering rideshare at heavily discounted rates if you’re okay to fly on a “whatever happens after launch, happens” basis. 

    We understand this may not suit everybody, which is why we can also offer milestone- or performance-based payments, still at attractively discounted rates well below commercial rates, for our 2025 campaign. 

    If you need higher assurance levels or guarantees, contact us as we do offer other services that may suit your needs better and can work with you on a path forward.