MURMANSK, August 11. /TASS/. Testing of the world's first reusable stratospheric platform for the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route research was successful, press service of the Murmansk Arctic University (MAU) told TASS. The university supervises the project. The experiment took place near the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, to where Russian scientists and school students from 23 countries had traveled onboard the 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory) nuclear-powered icebreaker as part of Rosatom's Icebreaker of Knowledge expedition.

"It is for the first time ever that Russian scientists have successfully launched a reusable stratospheric platform in the Arctic - the first development of the kind, designed to monitor the situation along the Northern Sea Route, to conduct environmental monitoring, and to provide communications in the Arctic," the university's press service said.

The experiment confirmed the feasibility of establishing stable radio communications using readily available radio equipment in the Earth's polar areas, where signal reception from ground-based radio stations and satellites is extremely difficult or impossible. Results of the platform's launch will be used for improving communications quality along the Northern Sea Route and will also advance the creation of an independent Arctic monitoring system that does not depend on data from foreign satellites, that is more cost-effective, and that can provide high-quality data transmission in real time.

"I am confident that the Rosatom expedition will be a turning point for the young people who participated in the experiment: some of them will certainly pursue careers in science," said the program's leader, the university's Deputy Chancellor for Research and Innovation Anton Yurmanov. He also managers the Program for the Environmental Monitoring System Using Stratospheric Platforms at High Latitudes. "Our work is part of a new, big-scale project for the Arctic's sustainable development. Conducting such experiments on a regular basis, in a unified manner, and with the necessary frequency may be possible only with the support of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet."

About the experiment

The probe developed, by Russian scientists, rose to an altitude of more than 15 km near the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, covered more than 100 km, and landed successfully at its designated location. This is the first development of the kind, created by specialists of the Murmansk Arctic University (MAU), the Stratonavtika Aerospace Laboratory, the RUVDS Company (communication systems), and the Environmental Defenders Foundation supported by VTB Bank, the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), and the Rosatom State Corporation.

"During Rosatom's scientific and educational expedition - the Icebreaker of Knowledge - we achieved the most important thing: we have managed to combine an educational program with a real-world scientific test," an expert of the Icebreaker of Knowledge scientific and educational expedition and leader of the Stratonavtika Aerospace Laboratory Denis Efremov said. "Together with school students from 23 countries, we have assembled components of the experimental stratospheric balloon and then launched it into the stratosphere, where a promising global radio broadcasting system was successfully tested in flight. The launching in harsh polar conditions was a major challenge, but we've managed it. And what's especially valuable is that participants in the Icebreaker of Knowledge expedition were not just observers, they were directly involved in the project."

About the Murmansk Arctic University

The Murmansk Arctic University, created as a merger of two of biggest universities in the Murmansk Region, has received over 1 billion rubles ($12 million) to establish a Coastal Training Center and to upgrade the Maritime Conventional Training Center. The university has been working on a modern student campus. The educational institution is a candidate for the Priority 2030 program, which includes work on three strategic projects: "Marine Technologies in the Arctic," "Innovative Technologies in Mining and Mineral Processing," and "Arctic Bioresources and Biotechnology."