• carbon fiber frame
• high altitude balloon
• payload
• solar panel
• solar panel deployment
• solar power
• stratospheric platform
• structural design

The development of the technology in the aerospace industry has been excessively big in the last decades. From nanosatellites to giant rockets, a lot of successful missions are built to observe the Earth and to have more data about our solar system and the universe. Billions of dollars are spent for the aerospace industry all around the world every year. Balloon technology is also a developing field in which many companies and governments invest. Sounding balloons are used in many different fields for observing and making some measurements about ground and atmosphere. Some of these are able to carry tons of payload to the stratosphere. Having measurements at the stratosphere is not easy with planes, rockets or satellites. They are very expensive solutions. On the other hand, sounding balloon is a cheaper and easier solution to make good measurements and take high resolution photos and videos.
In this thesis, the preliminary design of the payload system of a high-altitude balloon is studied. A low-mass and high strength payload is designed with some secondary parts to make it more stable on the rotation axis. Solar cells are placed on foldable solar panels to provide power for longer periods than usage of batteries. Structural and modal analysis of the main payload and solar panels are done on software. A 1:3 scaled model was created in 3D printer and some stabilization tests were performed. The power generation of solar cells is calculated by considering two cases with respect to the angle of the Sun and the solar panels. It is important to recover the payload in the end of the mission’s reusability and have a stable system for clear photos and videos.