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The tethered demonstrator above a green landscape, seen from the circling drone.

Making height routine.

Thinking Balloon builds autonomous tethered aerostats. Incubated at IISc, Bengaluru.

Story

Sensors and radios work better higher up. Masts stop short, drones come down within hours, and large aerostats need large crews. So we are building aerostats that launch, recover and service themselves.

Our first envelopes flew in August 2025. Now we are testing the first aerostat and its ground station.

Founded
2025
Based in
Bengaluru, India
Incubated at
IISc, Bengaluru
Legal name
Thinking Near Space Private Limited
A white envelope with an Indian flag, inflated on the floor of our workshop in Bengaluru.
Envelope in the workshop, Bengaluru

Roadmap

Choose a stage

Built in stages. Each one earns the next.

Each stage passes its own tests before the next one starts.

02In test 2026

Autonomous aerostat demonstrator

Target
A small aerostat and the station that launches, recovers, docks and tops it up, carrying 5 to 10 kg at 100 to 300 metres.
To pass this stage
50 automatic launch and recovery cycles, run by two people or fewer.
Evidence so far
  • Over 100 autonomous launch-and-recovery cycles completed during demonstrator field testing in Bengaluru.
  • Ground station built
  • Winch bench-tested, including braking when the link drops
  • Docking hardware bench-tested
  • Station controller and dashboard working

Each stage also needs airspace, spectrum and safety approval before it flies.

The demonstrator silhouetted below sunlit clouds, with a distant green landscape beneath it.

Come and build it with us.

We are hiring engineers in Bengaluru.

See open rolesGet in touch