Project STRATO: The Surveillance And Comms Balloon Coming To A Fire Near You.

NASA, The Forest Service, Aerostar, Starlink, and Motorola collaborate...

Two years ago, I first reported on these stratospheric balloons when they took their first baby steps on the Moose Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest. This year, the STRATO Project took off running on the West Mountain Complex in Idaho. I know many firefighters have seen these flying over their fires lately, as have many locals in the area.

So w…