U.S. Air Force Awards $64 Million Contract for High-Altitude Balloon Prototype

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Aerostar Technical Solutions a $64.4 million contract under the Swamp Gas project to develop a prototype high-altitude balloon.

The U.S. Department of War published the contract announcement on September 28. The agreement with Aerostar was awarded without competition.

Under the project, the company is to develop a minimum viable prototype (MVP) to address an urgent operational need for a high-altitude balloon.

The work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, and is scheduled for completion by March 23, 2028. At the time the contract was awarded, $57.7 million had been obligated from fiscal year 2025 research, development, test, and evaluation funds, along with another $6.27 million from fiscal year 2026 funds.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base manages the contract. The intended mission of the future balloon, its payload, and the unit that will operate it have not been disclosed.

The Defense Blog reported that Aerostar has long worked with the U.S. military on using stratospheric platforms for communications, reconnaissance, and surveillance.

In particular, the company is developing the Thunderhead family of high-altitude balloons, which can remain in the stratosphere for extended periods and maneuver by changing altitude and using air currents. In March 2025, one of these systems completed a record-breaking 336-day flight. Aerostar markets such systems as platforms for persistent surveillance and reconnaissance and for providing resilient communications.

Militarnyi previously reported that in August 2026, the U.S. Army tested stratospheric balloons in Poland during the Cold Raptor exercise. The platforms operate at altitudes of about 18-21 kilometers and can carry reconnaissance sensors, communications equipment and electronic warfare systems. During the exercise, service members practiced launching, controlling, monitoring and recovering the balloons.

High-altitude balloons are also being used in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

In September 2025, Russian sources reported the mass use of unidentified balloons simultaneously with a Ukrainian long-range drone raid. They were detected over the Moscow region, Chuvashia, Tatarstan, the Yaroslavl region, and the Tver region. According to Russian reports, some of the objects were flying at an altitude of about 10 kilometers.

In Ukraine, balloons have also been tested as airborne communications relays. In 2025, Himera Radios and Aerobavovna tested the B1 relay for HIMERA tactical radios, raising it to altitudes of 500 and 800 meters.

Testing confirmed stable communications at a distance of 32 kilometers, while mounting the relay on a balloon significantly expanded the radio horizon.