Romanians To Launch Space Balloon

By using a balloon,  the Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA) has eliminated the need to build a launch pad. The team plans to launch the balloon in the middle of the Atlantic, near the equator. The air in the balloon will be heated by solar energy.

When the balloon reaches an altitude of about 18 kilometers, the three-stage rocket's fuel will ignite, and the rocket will orbit the earth on its own. ARCA's European Lunar Explorer (ELE) spacecraft will then continue on to the moon.

Upon reaching the moon, the ELE will deploy its lunar lander, which is a spherical robot. The team, which has been sponsored by some well-known Romanian entrepreneurs, chose the sphere shape because it was inexpensive to design.

Competitors for the Lunar X prize must develop and implement a method for sending a lunar rover to the moon. The rover must then traverse a distance of about 500 meters and send high-resolution photographs back to earth.