Designing Helium-Filled Aerostats Applying Scaling Procedure, Mini-Models CANDY and Fly-Tests on SKYLAB

Helium-filled aerostats can be lifted by the traditional hot-air balloon (SKYLAB), in the compact form, and then, after reaching some starting level $${H}_{1}$$ , helium can be pumped into the aerostat (using storage tank with a compressed gas), starting its autonomous mission. Optimal design process of aerostats dedicated to perform determined mission (between the altitudes $${H}_{1}$$ and $${H}_{2}$$ ) will be discussed with preliminary experimental verification process, based on scaling procedure of aerostat mini-model, so-called CANDY, and fly-tests on SKYLAB will be proposed.