Unfortunately, a DoD document from 2012 states that the test flights of the NSMV that JP Aerospace built for the Air Force Space Battlelab were canceled due to issues with the craft's propulsion system and failed launches. In Floating to Space, John Powell writes that the 175-foot Ascender built for the NSMV project was destroyed "during a high wind accident while being prepared for its first flight." The Air Force terminated the program in 2005.

While lighter-than-air craft dont get the attention that traditional high-performance aircraft do, they nonetheless remain a vital subject of aerospace research within the Department of Defense, according to a 2012 report prepared by the Rapid Reaction Technology Office, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The report discussed airship technologies that the Department of Defense's laboratories and contractors were developing or had developed at the time that enable viable lighter-than-air vehicles to contribute to our short, mid, and long term strategy for national security and defense and offered advanced intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and communications capabilities through integrated sensor payloads and on-board processing for real-time intelligence and post-mission forensics.

The report also noted that advances and investment in aerostat and airship technology are also being made in the private sector and that the DoD is monitoring this progress and will continue to look for opportunities to advance our objectives through commercially available technology. In addition to JP Aerospace, the report discussed recent airship platforms designed and constructed by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NASA, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and other aerospace contractors.

A 2013 report that the Rapid Reaction Technology Office prepared added that "as the U.S. engaged in conflicts where airspace was less contested, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, interest increased in the development and use of LTA [lighter than air] vehicles for multiple purposes." Forward operating bases and small tactical units used tethered aerostats for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, demonstrating the fact that airships and aerostats still have a use on the battlefield, especially low altitude ones. America's potential foes have followed suit in recent years.

While the Department of Defense still employs lighter-than-air vehicles primarily for ISR missions, many DoD laboratories are working towards developing hybrid airships for logistic airlift missions. As the armed forces continue their pivot towards space, companies like JP Aerospace that are willing to explore the possibilities of lighter-than-air spaceflight and find new paradigms will be increasingly important.

There is also great potential for replacing or augmenting communications satellite networks with LTA craft. This could be a key area of research and development for the DoD as space becomes increasingly contested and new issues arise such as orbital pollution. There is already precedent in the commercial sector for such LTA-based communication networks, such as the Loon project launched by Google's parent company Alphabet, Inc. Loon uses high-altitude balloons flying up to 11 miles up in the stratosphere to provide wireless broadband internet to those on the surface below.

With all this in mind, lighter-than-air flight is undergoing something of a modern renaissance, but the leap from more terrestrial uses to taking payloads into space certainly signifies the apex of imagination when it comes to what is the oldest form of non-organic flight. We can only hope that JP Aerospace continues to push the boundaries of airship-to-orbit technology so that maybe one day we all may be able to float to orbital space stations aboard massive V-shaped airships.

Contact the editor: Tyler@thedrive.com

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We Talk Giant V-Shaped Airships, Space, And Phoenix Lights With JP Aerospace's Founder - The Drive