Stratotegic: Harnessing the Stratosphere for Reliable Surveillance
The Canadian government has made significant commitments to satellite programs, including the goal of providing a full country image twice a day by 2029 (Government of Canada). Though two images a day is limiting, it can enable us to survey long-term changes across Canada’s vast geography and will play a major role in environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, urban planning, and predicting natural disasters.
Closer to the ground, advancements in connectivity and small drone technology have enabled more precise surveillance and imagery. These drones are being used to assess areas that are difficult to access on foot, think search and rescue in mountainous regions or prospecting in remote locations.
Small drones are also helping collect information on work sites and farms, as well as gain an understanding of travel and communication routes. Unfortunately, a drone is limited to its flying range, with most topping out at 18km.
With small drones flying too low for wide coverage and satellites unable to provide more frequent imagery, a sweet spot for surveillance can be found in the stratosphere. Ranging from around 20-50km into the atmosphere, imagery captured at this level can have much higher resolution than satellite imagery, with a much larger area of coverage than small drones.
The downside: drones and airplanes equipped at this level are expensive and have a higher carbon footprint. While stratospheric balloons are more cost-effective and energy efficient, they have difficulty maintaining position in a target region.
This is where Stratotegic is changing the game. By applying AI modelling, the Kingston startup is creating a high-altitude balloon that corrects its own course, enabling low-cost and persistent stratospheric surveillance.
Developing a Fully Autonomous Balloon Navigation System
The key to Stratotegic’s solution lies in its unique navigation system. Developed in partnership with Queen’s University, the system is AI-enabled with modelling that allows for accurate predictions of stratospheric conditions over a target location in advance of lift off, and a continued intake of conditions as the balloon is airborne. This allows the Stratotegic balloon to optimize its navigation path over a target location autonomously and in real-time.
The result is called Strato-Hab, a quick-to-deploy stratospheric balloon that can provide high-resolution imagery of a 100km2 area every five minutes for over 24 hours. Using traditional weather balloon technology, the solution comes in at 10% the cost of today’s state-of-the-art super-pressure balloons.
Strato-Hab which is made in Canada, is an all-in-one solution that includes the balloon, navigation equipment, and imagery hardware and software. The balloon payload contains the navigation and imagery equipment, which connects to the operator's PC on the ground.
Delivering Real-Time Monitoring in Forest Fire Fighting
The requirement for cost-effective and reliable wide-range surveillance to tackle important Canadian issues has been the main driver for Stratotegic’s CEO, Graeme Daly.
“Key national objectives, like addressing Arctic and ocean sovereignty, as well as improving coastal search and rescue operations, require wide area surveillance to be effective,” Graeme explained.
“But probably most pressing is Canada’s need to better combat the constant threat and impacts of out-of-control forest fires.”
The damage caused to Canada by forest fires has continued to intensify with our increasingly hot and dry summers. This year alone has already seen over 6.6 million hectares burned from over 3,853 separate wildfires across the country (The Weather Network).
Beyond environmental devastation, the fires have displaced communities from coast to coast, destroying homes and jeopardizing lives.
What makes combating wildfires so difficult is the speed and the unpredictability of a fire's growth. According to Natural Resources Canada, the speed at which a wildfire grows can vary, but under extreme conditions, a fire can travel up to 12 km/h (Natural Resources Canada).
“Arming forest fire fighters with cost-effective and real-time imagery of affected regions enables the ongoing tactical response needed to limit the spread and damage of wildfires with the resources at hand,” said Graeme.
“By making the Strato-Hab reliable and autonomous, firefighters with limited drone flying experience can use our solution to react and be proactive with their efforts.”
A Fully DIY Solution for End Users
Stratotegic’s DIY (do-it-yourself) business model is a key differentiator. Typically, a customer would be required to hire a company to supply and fly the balloons as a service, while Stratotegic empowers the customer to fly the Strato-Hab themselves.
By creating a fully automated package and providing their customers with simple training, Stratotegic is setting itself up to sell their solution at scale. Graeme took us through the technology:
“By running the navigation system through a microcontroller on the balloon, our solution conducts wind modelling for path optimization before launch and in real-time, constantly updating its course to stay persistent in its location. Our customers will be following a built-in checklist to ensure a successful launch, but once the Strato-Hab is in the air, it will be able to navigate autonomously so the user can focus on the incoming imagery.”
The Journey to Commercial Take Off
Stratotegic began its journey supporting standard compliance for international stratospheric technology. Original founder, Jeremy Henderson, brought his 20+ years of pilot experience in the Royal Canadian Air Force to consult companies in the stratosphere space.
“Jeremy was the visionary behind Stratotegic. He brought me on as lead engineer as we saw the opportunity to support today’s balloon technology with AI-guided navigation,” Graeme reflected.
“We partnered with Queen’s University to develop our disruptive technology for market readiness.”
In January, Jeremy passed after a seven-month fight with cancer, leaving the Stratotegic team to continue driving the solution to market. The first hurdle was finding the right market fit.
“We were pitching tech and dreams. The problem: no third-party balloon provider was interested in purchasing our software. We realized we needed to sell to the use cases: Arctic surveillance, forest fires, search and rescue,” said Graeme.
This shift led the company to develop a simple-to-use, full hardware and software solution that could be sold as a package to an end-user.
IP and Funding Support through Launch Lab
Throughout the journey, the organization maintained a strong connection with Launch Lab, taking advantage of the innovation hub’s business and financial advisory services. More specifically, Launch Lab supported Stratotegic’s IP strategy, connecting the organization with IPON (Intellectual Property Ontario).
Launch Lab also provided Stratotegic support through the i.d.e.a. Fund, a program funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the i.d.e.a. Fund provides up to 30 hours of mentorship and a matching $20,000 grant that drives Ontario’s sustainable and circular economic growth by funding high-potential businesses that reduce the environmental impact of existing products and services.
“The tools and supports provided by Launch Lab have been instrumental in Stratotegic’s commercial journey,” said Graeme.
“The innovation hub brings a team of seasoned business professionals to guide you on all aspects of bringing a product to market. With their help, our organization is embarking on our next round of seed funding and is prepared for pilot testing.”
The Drive to Empower through Disruptive Technology
As Stratotegic continues its path to market entry, Graeme is confident that the technology his team is creating will be game-changing for surveillance.
“Our solution enables users to cost-effectively harness the value of stratospheric surveillance. It’s the knowledge our solution will empower those trying to solve major issues that keeps me motivated to see Stratotegic succeed,” Graeme confided.
“In the startup game, you will face many hurdles that will try your resolve, but the ability to build your own team and develop an organizational culture that truly cares about the work you are doing will give you the resilience needed to prosper.”
