The giant red Absa balloon, ten storeys high and the largest helium balloon in South Africa, will be one of the biggest and most unusual advertising billboards in the country. It can also take up to 30 people for a ride lasting approximately 15 minutes. The balloon is filled with helium and therefore cannot catch fire or explode, and is completely silent.
Operated by black-owned Atlas Balloon Company and built by Lindstrand Technologies, the world's largest manufacturer of manned, tethered aerostats, the Absa Balloon will be permanently tethered. Lindstrand balloons meet the aviation and safety standards of all countries in which they are operated - the steel rope securing the balloon has a breaking point ten times greater than the force exerted by the balloon.
Lindstrand Technologies, based in England, works closely with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre in Washington and with the European Space Agency in Holland. The company produced the largest ever hot air balloon (73 600 cubic metres) and the largest ever manned superpressure balloon. It is currently involved in developing a balloon that will allow the first ever sky dive from space - a sky diver will exit the balloon at 130 000 ft for a free fall to 15 000 ft where he will deploy his parachute.
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