Unmanned free balloons are aircraft without a pilot, which move freely in the atmosphere and may carry a payload.
Their operation is subject to the Rules of the Air set out in Appendix 5 of ICAO Annex 2, currently transposed into European law through Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012 (SERA) of 26 September, in its latest version, in particular Appendix 2 thereof.
According to SERA, unmanned free balloons (UFB) are classified as light, medium, or heavy, depending on the weight and characteristics of the payload. Appendix 2 of SERA includes figure (A5-1) showing the classification criteria.
Among the various requirements, the following are highlighted, without exempting the applicant from consulting the applicable legislation:
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The operation may only take place with prior authorization from the State of launch. The balloon must be operated in accordance with the conditions specified by the competent authority in the territory of launch and by the States overflown. If the operator carries out the launch in another State of registry and enters within 12 NM of the national territory—except for light balloons used exclusively for meteorological purposes and operated as prescribed by the competent authority (which must nevertheless always coordinate with ATS)—authorization for overflight of the State concerned must be obtained, including when it is reasonably expected, during the operation’s planning, that the balloon might drift into the airspace over another State’s territory.
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Depending on the classification, particularly medium and heavy balloons must comply with specific requirements regarding equipment, lighting, traceability, and safety.
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The operation must be conducted so as not to endanger persons, property, or other aircraft. In this regard, the natural or legal person intending to launch and operate the UFB must not operate in such a way that the impact with the surface of the Earth (or part thereof) poses a risk to persons or property, and must provide supporting evidence to ANAC in the application to demonstrate that such risk is minimized and properly mitigated. This may result in the need to operate, during the launch, ascent, and descent phases, at a safe distance from airspace with a high volume of air traffic or from aeronautical infrastructures, or even to minimize exposure through appropriate mitigations.
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Prior notification and trajectory monitoring with the competent air traffic services are mandatory at least 7 days in advance, if authorized by the State of registry or the State of overflight when the balloons are light or heavy. Over the high seas, depending on classification, coordination with ATS services is required (NAV Portugal E.P.E.). Such procedures will, for example, allow air navigation service providers to coordinate in advance any international air navigation warnings that may be necessary.
If coordination of an air navigation warning (NOTAM) is required under the conditions of the issued authorization, the UFB operator shall use the most recent Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) published by ANAC for coordination available here
The application for authorization to launch unmanned free balloons must be submitted using the specific form available on ANAC’s forms page available here