A New Step Towards the "StratoBus Idea": A Modular Pivot for Multiuser Platform

The pivot is a strategic part of stratospheric flights. It suspends all the experiments that need spinning in the azimuth coordinate in order to point at given sky targets independently of any random rotation of the balloon. In pursuing the STRATOBUS idea, like many other payload parts also the pivot has undergone considerable modifications as compared with its earlier design. Indeed, the goal is to optimize those parts that are capable of reducing campaign costs, thus making possible more frequent flights beyond the atmosphere. To be more precise, the said modifications have been focused on obtaining versatile mechanical parts that can be recovered after landing and then reused in many different flight configurations. As far as the pivot is concerned, the development of this new concept has been carried out by taking into account the advantages provided by modular architecture. However, all the functionalities of the previous design have been maintained