Products
From the surface to the stratosphere.
TCOM operates the broadest persistent elevated awareness portfolio in the industry — organized here by altitude, from stratospheric balloons at the edge of space to ground-based radar and mobile towers.
Stratospheric Balloons
Persistent flight at the edge of space.
DESCRIPTION
Aerostar's stratospheric platforms carry the payloads that produce persistent COMINT, beyond-line-of-sight network extension, mesh communications, ELINT, air-launched effects, optical surveillance, and SAR — for the missions that need a platform on station for days, weeks, or months. Customers span the U.S. Department of Defense, the Defense Innovation Unit, NASA, and commercial partners. Backed by 70+ years of lighter-than-air innovation, 200+ technology patents, and 200,000+ ft² of dedicated manufacturing and lab space in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
PRODUCT FAMILY
Thunderhead — Long-duration super-pressure workhorse. 60–90 day typical missions. World record 336-day controllable flight.
Lightning — Tactical zero-pressure platform. Hand-launchable from a two-person team. 3–4 day missions, smallest footprint.
Cyclone — Zero-pressure platform for 1–2 day missions. 125 lb payload capacity.
Hurricane — Large zero-pressure platform for heavy-lift missions.
Stratospheric Airships — Controlled lighter-than-air for specialty and station-keeping missions.
Thunderstorm — Machine-learning-driven mission planning and C2 system. Server-based, secure VPN-accessible globally. Supports the full balloon family.
SPECIFICATIONS
60,000+ ft
ALTITUDE
336 days
100 days typical | world record
DURATION
6,000 lbs
100+ payloads integrated
MAX PAYLOAD
Aerostat Systems
Tethered persistence — tactical to strategic.
DESCRIPTION
Tethered aerostats deliver persistent overhead presence — from rapid tactical site protection to long-duration theater-scale strategic coverage. Strategic-class platforms host AESA radar with coverage areas approaching 250,000 square kilometers from a single mooring. TCOM is the only company in the industry with in-house ability to design, produce, integrate, and test complete aerostat systems.
PRODUCT FAMILY
Tactical class (12M, 17M)
Fast-deploy site protection. 7-day missions, 60–320 lb payloads, 1,000–2,000 ft. Setup in 2 hours.
Operational class (22M, 28M, 34M, 55M)
Sustained area surveillance. 14–30 day missions, 445–2,000 lb payloads, 3,000–7,000 ft.
Strategic class (71M, 74M, 117M)
Long-range theater coverage. 30–60 day missions, 4,750–18,000 lb payloads, 10,000–16,000 ft. AESA radar capability.
SPECIFICATIONS
16,000+ ft
1,000 to 16,000 across family
ALTITUDE
18,000 lb
60 lb to 18,000 lb across family
MAX PAYLOAD
60 days
7 to 60 days across family
DURATION
Tethered UAS
A persistent and mobile 400-foot tower.
DESCRIPTION
FALCON tethered UAS extend persistent elevated presence to small teams, austere sites, and rapid-response missions. Case-to-air in minutes with a single operator. Tether power for continuous endurance. Modular, water-resistant, low-EMI architecture with onboard autonomy. The FALCON family fills the role between hand-launched drones and full-scale aerostats.
PRODUCT FAMILY
FALCON Efficient
Small-team mobility. 7 lb payload at 225 ft. Smallest footprint in the family.
FALCON Medium
Sustained site coverage. 12 lb payload at 400 ft.
FALCON Heavy
Maximum tethered payload class. 25 lb at 400 ft.
Tethered FALCON Ultra Heavy
In development under U.S. Army TLS-EAB Phase 2 (Lockheed Martin subcontract).
SPECIFICATIONS
400+ ft
225 (Eff) - 400 ft (Med/Hvy)
ALTITUDE
25 lb
7 lb (Eff) | 12 lb (Med) | 25 lb (Hvy)
MAX PAYLOAD
14 days
Continuous via tether power
DURATION
Radar & Mobile Towers
Mission-tailored radar coverage.
DESCRIPTION
Aerostar's radar systems and TCOM's mobile tower platforms deliver ground-based and mobile coverage tailored to mission, terrain, and threat. The radars deploy across multiple platforms — towers, vehicles, ships, UAVs, and aerostats — and integrate natively with TCOM's elevated portfolio for layered, multi-altitude detection. The Aerostar Vista line currently powers the U.S. Navy's Air Surveillance Radar program.
PRODUCT FAMILY
HiPointer 100 — Lightweight, single-person-deployable, fully autonomous coherent radar for difficult-clutter target tracking.
HiPointer 150 — Same architecture as HiPointer 100, with extended capability.
Vista F25 (SSRS F25) — Tactical Smart Sensor Radar System. Long-range performance.
Vista F50ER (SSRS F50ER) — 360° wide-area extended-range Smart Sensor Radar System.
Mobile tower platforms — Rapid-deploy, mobile, mission-configurable structural foundation.
SPECIFICATIONS
Multi-altitude
Towers · vehicles · ships ·
UAVs · aerostats
ALTITUDE
360°
4 systems:
HiPointer 100/150 + Vista F25/F50ER
MAX PAYLOAD
Continuous
Always-on,
powered radar coverage
DURATION
Radar Standalone Tracker
(RADAR SAT)
DESCRIPTION
For organizations that already own radar hardware, Aerostar offers the Radar Standalone Tracker (RADAR SAT). Rather than replacing your existing radar, RADAR SAT adds Aerostar's industry-leading detection and tracking intelligence on top of it. We provide the processing hardware, software, cabling, installation, tuning, and operator training — you keep the radar you already have.
This makes RADAR SAT an ideal option for customers looking to significantly upgrade their tracking capability without the cost and disruption of a full radar replacement, and it is well suited for military, coast guard, and homeland security applications.
Tell us about your mission.
Our business development and solutions architect team will
recommend the platform and payload combination the fits best.