Some background on super pressure:
NASA is leading quite a bit of research into balloons, specifically very long term duration. Here’s a paper from my notes:
Here are some key people leading the field that I’d like to connect with:
David Bowen
http://whitestarballoon.com/?p=516
https://ukhas.org.uk/projects:splat
https://ukhas.org.uk/ideas:super-pressure_balloon_skin_tension_calculations
Richard Meadows
Potential IP / patent issues, we may need to get a license or something:
US20150266559A1 - Superpressure Balloon Envelope Cage Structure and Rigging Technique - Google Patents (super pressure balloon/envelope cage)
One of the key value propositions is being able to inexpensively return the payload for service/data recovery etc. Some links on that:
Parafoil return system
https://os.mbed.com/users/lhiggs/notebook/autonomous-parafoil-return-vehicle/
https://my.nps.edu/web/adsc/pegasus?inheritRedirect=true
https://my.nps.edu/web/adsc/networking-snowflake-n
https://my.nps.edu/web/adsc/snowflake
etc (nps seems to be the main place this stuff is being researched)