Stable human and sensor platforms at 100,000 feet (30.48 kilometers) have many practical uses
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The company successfully completed the first un-crewed space balloon flight.
My comment: Stable human and sensor platforms at 100,000 feet (30.48 kilometers) have many practical uses
Take payloads and people that high then use solar sails and atomic fuels to leave and come back, or stay on station. It does not have to go far, or you can just stay that high for a long time. Stable platforms at 100,000 feet (30.48 kilometers) have many practical uses for monitoring, communication, pleasure, astronomy, weather monitoring, emergency and priority situations, Internet nodes.
Beam power and send small payloads by “drone” or tethers. Even send people up an elevator to a permanent powered balloon. You all have started, there are many ways to go and markets to serve that high, “near earth”, and throughout the solar system.
Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation