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Tech firm gaining altitude. Space Data Corp. lands Air Force contract for balloon-borne network

A Chandler company working for years on a communications network utilizing high-altitude balloons has seen its work pay off, landing a $49 million Air Force contract.

Space Data Corp. will provide the military with 6-foot-wide latex rubber balloons equipped with communications equipment that probably will be used in Iraq and Afghanistan to improve communication among ground troops.

"It’s a feather in Chandler’s cap," said Gerald Knoblach, chairman and chief executive officer of Space Data. "We’re a high-tech industry with a new technology the Air Force has recognized called ‘near space.’ We’re in the lead in that right now. It’s a technology conceived and founded and developed in Chandler."

The technology is called near space because the balloons can rise to 100,000 feet above sea level.

Luci Scott
The Arizona Republic

Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0905biz-cr-data0905.html

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