Operating at the Edge of Space

[DanFrederiksen]

meh. I'm thinking no

[DerVampyrEngel]

Disadvantages would be harsh weather unless you fly them in the stratosphere then it would be OK, I am sure though that airship technology can be used to build giant starships and space cruisers as well as small craft for space exploration

[roidroid]

quite interesting, this business of replacing satellites with high altitude blimps.

Cities could buy their own, and write it off as infrastructure. As well as phone/TV/internet, it could also offer a single ultra-high-res video feed to all, real-time local Google Earth.

The brilliant advantage it has over satellites is that if you ever want to upgrade it - you just land it, do your work, and then put it back up. A few "backup" blimps could travel from city to city as needed for less downtime

[zyxwvutsrqponmlkh]

Sorry I take it back, wish I could edit previous comments. LEO is not geo stationary and this functionality would offer quite a bit of uses. Although I would imagine staying still enough to focus a tv dish at would be impossible.

[zyxwvutsrqponmlkh]

I can launch with spacex to leo for around 100,000kg for 9 million and I have more faith that they will succeed. The only time I can see this being superior is if there is only a short term need or if you want to swap out // upgrade equipment every few months.