Atmospheric station-keeping

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In aeronautics, atmospheric station-keeping is keeping an aircraft in a specified region in relation to the earth. For an aerostat such as a balloon this could be achieved either by propelling the craft laterally against the wind or by utilizing altitude control mechanisms causing the balloon to go up and down in the sky where it can access different wind layers where the wind is blowing in different directions allowing the system to continually turn into or return to the region of interest allowing it to functionally stay still. ^[1]

In some cases, such as the flight of Loon LLC balloons, machine learning models were employed alongside altitude control systems with superpressure balloon technology to keep balloons floating in specified regions for as long as 39 days.^[2]

Because high-altitude balloon systems float in sky without consuming any energy, and can employ solar power for any auxiliary power needs, there is no fundamental reason they cannot persist indefinitely at float in the sky. Combining the long duration capability of high altitude flight vehicles with an ability to use altitude control for atmospheric station-keeping allows some high altitude vehicles including high-altitude balloon systems and high-altitude platform station systems to function like satellite systems in geostationary orbit while being much closer to the earth.^[1]