Stratofox is a team of Amateur Radio operators mostly in or near Silicon Valley who perform or participate in tracking and recovery operations for amateur, entrepreneurial and research rocketry and high-altitude balloon flights. The team also organizes training, trips and practice related to aerospace tracking in order to maintain demand for our team's expertise. On May 18, 2004 Stratofox became the first and so far only amateur group to recover a rocket which has re-entered the atmosphere after a space flight (defined as reaching 100km+ altitude.) We led the search on behalf of the Civilian Space Exploration Team (CSXT) to find their rocket, the first amateur rocket successfully launched to space. There was damage to the primary radio beacon that could have told us where it was. But we still found it via radio direction-finding for a secondary beacon. We located it in rugged mountains 20 miles from the launch site only 24 hours after the re-entry. So we had to work for our place in history. Stratofox has also become the only non-government group which has performed Space-Launch Range Safety operations, clearing the downrange area prior to launch. Each time we have performed this role to the FAA's satisfaction. We've done this several times for Paragon Astronautics' space launches. For our members, the motivation is to be invited to all the cool launches. Space enthusiasts can now do something with that interest. Though it still requires proving you "have what it takes" to get in. For our client organizations, we offer assistance that aerospace startups couldn't afford even if it was available for sale. Following that success, some people have described what we do as nearspacecraft hunting. It's a specialization among aerospace enthusiasts which we hope to promote further. Stratofox develops and maintains contacts with various aerospace groups. Our goal is to get more opportunities for our members to participate in launches and to perform or assist in searches for the vehicles. It's been good for making lots of friends with similar interests. And now we've assembled a team that has spacecraft-tracking experience like no other amateur group in the world. Our group has become familiar with the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, a common launch site used for amateur, entrepreneurial and research aerospace flights. This familiarity can help other groups using Black Rock as a launch site. The name "Stratofox" is short for "Stratospheric Foxhunt". Ham Radio operators call a search for a hidden transmitter a "foxhunt". We go "hunting" using telemetry or radio direction finding to look for radio transmitters that fell from (or through) the Stratosphere. Stratofox News and Info Oct 23, 2011: Stratofox successfully recovers California Near Space Project CNSP-10/K6RPT-11 balloon, San Jose, California Feb 5, 2011: Tracking for California Near Space Project K6RPT-13 balloon, San Jose, California May 20, 2009: 5th anniversary - CSXT Space Shot 2004 May 2, 2009: Slides from Stratofox's presentation at EmCommWest/Pacificon 2009, Reno, Nevada Apr 2, 2009: Slides from Stratofox's presentation at Space Access 2009, Phoenix Arizona Feb 18, 2009: Locations of search and recovery for the CSXT Space Shot 2004, posted for the upcoming 5th anniversary Nov 28, 2008: Needle in a Haystack: Stratofox recovers missing Japanese CanSat, Black Rock Desert, Nevada Oct 19, 2008: Slides from Stratofox's presentation at ARRL Pacificon 2008, San Ramon, California Feb 24, 2008: Slides from Stratofox's presentation at RadioFest 2008, Monterey, California June 20, 2007: Stratofox announces support for two NASA/XPrize Lunar Lander Challenge teams April 7, 2007: Slides from Stratofox's presentation at the Carter Observatory, Wellington, New Zealand Feb 11, 2007 Stratofox members discover possible impact crater at Black Rock Desert May 30, 2006 Joint Response by Stratofox, Tripoli and AERO-PAC to FAA Experimental Space Launch Permit NPRM May 8, 2006: Slides from Stratofox's presentation at the Santa Clara County Amateur Radio Association (SCCARA), Santa Clara, California April 21, 2006: Slides from Stratofox's presentation at Space Access '06, Phoenix, Arizona Sep 25-28, 2005: Stratofox performed Range Safety and search operations for Paragon Astronautics' Dragoon IIB space launch attempt, an FAA/AST permit launch, Black Rock Desert, Nevada Sep 23-25, 2005: Stratofox supported AeroPAC's Second To100K high-power hobby rocketry altitude record attempt, Black Rock Desert, Nevada Aug 5-7, 2005: Stratofox supported AeroPAC's First To100K high-power hobby rocketry altitude record attempt, Black Rock Desert, Nevada (see event below) Apr 2, 2005: April Fools Day 2005 shows "work hard/play hard" attitude at Stratofox Jan 29, 2005: Stratofox hosted the second STS-107 photographers & eyewitnesses discussion, San Jose, California Oct 8, 2004: Pictures of the SpaceShipOne X-Prize launches, Sept 29 and Oct 4, 2004, Mojave Spaceport, California Jun 23, 2004: Pictures of the SpaceShipOne launch, June 21, 2004, Mojave Spaceport, California Jun 18, 2004: Stratofox Advice for SpaceshipOne Launch Attendees Apr 1, 2004: Stratofox's 2004 April Fool's joke explained Feb 29, 2004: "So you want to join Stratofox?" (updated Apr 22, 2006) Feb 1, 2004: Stratofox hosted the STS-107 photographers and eyewitnesses discussion, San Jose, California Jul 28, 2003: "How to conduct search and rescue operations at Black Rock", "How to avoid needing a rescue at Black Rock" Mar 6, 2003: California Shuttle Debris Search Information Feb 2, 2003: Stratofox remembers Tim Sargent Stratofox team members have participated in these events To discuss any of these topics, please subscribe to Stratofox's aerospace talk mail list. 2009 Stratofox participation in the DARPA Network Challenge, December 5, 2009 Stratofox participated in the DARPA Network Challenge Remote support for Mars Society TEMPO3 research balloon, September 26, 2009 Stratofox provided support via the Internet from California for the Mars Society's TEMPO3 balloon flight in Colorado. Stratofox Crater Assault 4, April 2009 Expedition to investigate the theory of an impact crater at Black Rock 2008 Japanese CanSat Search 2008 (JCS08), December 2008 Stratofox recovered a missing CanSat research payload from the vast Black Rock Desert for a university from Japan. Stratofox 5, September 2008 Familiarization and exploration trip to the Black Rock Desert, Nevada Stratofox Crater Assault 3, September 2008 Expedition to investigate the theory of an impact crater at Black Rock Stanford/NASA "BioLaunch" B08A & B08B research balloons, March 2008 Stratofox assisted with Stanford's 7th and 8th "BioLaunch" high-altitude research balloon flights in central California. 2007 Stanford/NASA "BioLaunch" B07E & B07F research balloons, December 2007 Stratofox assisted with Stanford's 5th and 6th "BioLaunch" high-altitude research balloon flights in central California. Stanford/NASA "BioLaunch" B07C research balloon, June 2007 Stratofox assisted with Stanford's third "BioLaunch" high-altitude research balloon flight in central California. Stratofox 4, August 2007 Familiarization and exploration trip to the Black Rock Desert, Nevada Stratofox Crater Assault 2, June 2007 Expedition to investigate the theory of an impact crater at Black Rock Stanford/NASA "BioLaunch" B07B research balloon, May 2007 Stratofox assisted with Stanford's second "BioLaunch" high-altitude research balloon flight in central California. Stanford/NASA "BioLaunch" B07A research balloon, March 2007 Stratofox assisted Stanford University and NASA Ames Research Center with tracking and recovery of a high-altitude research balloon in central California Stratofox Crater Assault 1, January 2007 Expedition to investigate the theory of an impact crater at Black Rock 2006 Stratofox 3, September 2006 Familiarization and exploration trip to the Black Rock Desert, Nevada Stratofox assists with AeroPac's third To100K test flight, August 2006 Stratofox performed tracking and recovery assistance for AeroPac's third To100K Project launch at the AeroPac's Aeronaut launch, August 4-6, 2006. 2005 Stratofox performs Range Safety for Paragon Dragoon IIB space launch attempt, September 2005 Stratofox performed Range Safety for Paragon Astronautics' Dragoon IIB space launch attempt, Sept 26-27, 2005. Stratofox assists with AeroPac's second To100K test flight, September 2005 Stratofox performed tracking and recovery assistance for AeroPac's second To100K Project launch at the AeroPac's XPRS launch, September 24, 2005. Stratofox assists with AeroPac's first To100K test flight, August 2005 Stratofox performed tracking and recovery assistance for AeroPac's first To100K Project launch at the AeroPac's Aeronaut launch, August 4-7, 2005. 2004 Stratofox recovers booster from CSXT/GoFast space launch rocket, August to November 2004 Stratofox recovered the missing booster section from the May 17 CSXT/GoFast space launch. Updates will be announced on the Stratofox talk mail list. Paragon Labs' Dragoon 2 rocket launch, June 2004 Research rocket space launch attempt Stratofox recovers CSXT/GoFast rocket, May 2004 The world's first unmanned private-funded launch to space - spacecraft recovered by search teams organized by Stratofox Stratofox begins search for Debris 6, April 2004 Initial scouting expedition to Utah and Nevada to look for "Debris 6" from STS-107 CalPoly/Stanford research balloon, March 2004 Research balloon test to 75,000', recovered by Stanford team 2003 Paragon Labs' Dragoon 2 rocket launch, first attempt, September 2003 Research rocket space launch attempt - see photos by Ian Kluft, Sean Lynch and Rafael Skodlar Stratofox 2, August 2003 Familiarization camping trip to the Black Rock Desert. See photos by Ian Kluft, Sean Lynch and Rafael Skodlar Paragon Labs' Dragoon 1 rocket launch (invited by CSXT/OEX), June 2003 Sounding rocket test to 80,000', recovered by Stratofox volunteers 6.7 miles away 15 minutes after touchdown 2002 Balloon v1.0 (Jim Meehan), November 2002 Flight of balloon with Linux computer up to 80,000' in California from Silicon Valley to the San Joaquin Valley (as seen on Slashdot) West Texas Spaceport Inauguration (JP Aerospace), October 2002 balloon flight to 100,000', rocket flight to 10,000', both recovered CSXT Space Shot 2002, September 2002 Amateur space launch attempt Stratofox 1, September 2002 Familiarization camping trip to the Black Rock Desert, Nevada JP Aerospace "Away 9", May 2002 Balloon flight to 90,000', recovered 20 miles away 20 minutes after touchdown Oklahoma Spaceport Inauguration (JP Aerospace), March 2002 Away 14 flight to 100,000' recovered 80 miles away 90 minutes after touchdown; Away 15 flight to 95,000' recovered 90 miles away 20 minutes after touchdown 2001 JP Aerospace DSS2, October 2001 Flight of weather balloon and Dark Sky Station, DSS flight failed, weather balloon flight to 108,000', recovered 20 miles away JP Aerospace DSS1, March 2001 Test flight of Dark Sky Station, flew to 37,000', recovered 80 miles away Presentations by Stratofox team members "Stratofox: Tracking Balloons & Rockets with the help of Ham Radio", October 2008 Presentation by Ian Kluft at ARRL Pacificon in San Ramon, California "The Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team", February 2008 Presentation by Ian Kluft at RadioFest 2008 in Monterey, California "The Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team", April 2007 Presentation by Ian Kluft at the Carter Observatory in Wellington, New Zealand "The Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team", May 2006 Presentation by Ian Kluft KO6YQ and Chris Verges KG4YSN at the Santa Clara County Amateur Radio Association (SCCARA) in Santa Clara, California "The Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team", April 2006 Presentation by Ian Kluft, James Robertson and Sean Lynch at Space Access '06 in Phoenix, Arizona "Amateur Radio at the Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team", April 2005 Presentation by Ian Kluft KO6YQ at the West Valley Amateur Radio Association in San Jose, California also presented by Ian Kluft, James Robertson and Sean Lynch at Space Access '05 in Phoenix, Arizona "Amateur Radio Tracking of High-altitude Balloons", August 2002 Presentation by Ian Kluft KO6YQ and Owen DeLong KB6MER at the West Valley Amateur Radio Association in San Jose, California

Stratofox Mail Lists announce-only talk Donations Donating to Stratofox Aerospace Affiliations (alphabetical order) Association of Experimental Rocketry of the Pacific (AeroPac) San Rafael, California Civilian Space Exploration Team (CSXT) Minneapolis, Minnesota Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach, Florida Mars Society (TEMPO3 Project) Olney, Maryland Paragon Astronautics Denver, Colorado SpeedUp Chugwater, Wyoming Stanford University Palo Alto, California Sugar Shot to Space Irvine, California UP Aerospace Denver, Colorado Web Site Sponsors Thunder.Net Communications San Jose, California Layer42 Networks Santa Clara, California