SATAN

Description

In September 2022, Andrew Lockley, who was a researcher from University College London at the time, in collaboration with European Astrotech launched a balloon containing sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere from Buckinghamshire, England.

The September 2022 launch was part of the Stratospheric Aerosol Transport and Nucleation (SATAN) project. The SATAN project consisted of two balloon launches. According to an unpublished article the researchers made available online, the first balloon launched in October 2021 and released small amounts of inert gas. The second balloon, launched in September 2022, reached an altitude of around 24 km before bursting and releasing about 400 grams of sulphur dioxide gas into the stratosphere. This document also provides full details about the balloon system, which was assembled from relatively inexpensive, commercially available components.

According to the researcher, Andrew Lockley, the goal of the experiment was an “engineering proof of concept” rather than any kind of atmospheric perturbation. Other researchers, however, have questioned whether the SATAN project had scientific or engineering merit beyond highlighting a need for SRM governance.

According to Lockley (personal communication), a peer-reviewed article about the study has been accepted to the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics following a long review process. The SATAN project was funded in part through European Astrotech Limited’s Research and Development budget and personal donations to and by Lockley.

Key Papers