Aerostratospheric Updates xPrototypes Bench Story: Olney Corporate Office, Flown xFall2 on X2Griffon, and Lightweight Radar Reflector First Flight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Olney, Illinois · September 23, 2026

This release is a follow-on update to Aerostratospheric's earlier September 8, 2026 PRLog notice on xAirship and the xPrototypes bench (https://www.prlog.org/13169430). It is not a reprint. New context includes the Olney corporate office address, recent Flown results for xFall2 on the September 19 X2Griffon maiden science flight, and the September 12 first flight of the lightweight radar reflector during private preparation work.

Aerostratospheric, an Illinois nonprofit, maintains its corporate office at 801 S West St, Suite 101, Olney, IL 62450. Launch operations remain based in Casey, Illinois. The organization designs and flies lightweight high-altitude payload science platforms and publishes open atmospheric data for research, education, and public reuse.

xPrototypes is Aerostratospheric's in-house shop bench for units that earn a flight number before they become or support a named platform. Catalog flight systems remain separate: X2Griffon, the flagship stratospheric profiler, and x1Albatross, the mid-altitude jetstream drift host. xPrototypes sits beside those platforms so hardware can be tested at altitude
Other current bench units listed on the public xPrototypes page include:
1. Lightweight radar reflector (about 87 g). Three intersecting foam-core planes faced with heavy-duty aluminum, built as a corner reflector for radar returns in the 200 to 2700 MHz band. First flight: September 12, 2026 private preparation / Flown archive context alongside the x1Albatross envelope check.
2. Compact radar reflector (about 84 g). Same geometry cut one inch smaller on a side — a size test for radar cross section, mentioned here briefly as a sibling bench unit.
3. x2 data logger on the xFall2 failsafe pack. xFall2 is the independent recovery and tracking pack flown on missions: offline logging plus 4G LTE and satellite tracking with approximately three-second updates.
4. xStratoInject release mechanism. Shop prototype of the supervised cartridge and trigger that rides the developmental xStratoInject research path on an X2Griffon train.

On September 19, 2026, Aerostratospheric flew the X2Griffon maiden science mission. The public Flown archive lists a burst altitude of 90,356 ft (NOTAM ceiling language of 115,000 ft is not the flown altitude). xFall2 survived and reported the landing in Vigo County, Indiana. The flight is framed for collaboration and open-science awareness: mission and platform facts are public; launches are private science operations, not public pad-day events.
Aerostratospheric invites media and collaborators interested in open atmospheric data, STEM learning paths, and platform awareness to review the public pages and schedule a short conversation. Collaboration is data- and education-first. The organization does not use this release to request in-kind gear or product donations.

Program and media pages:
https://www.midwestsds.com/xprototypes.html
https://www.midwestsds.com/platforms.html
https://www.midwestsds.com/flights.html
https://www.midwestsds.com/msds-data-hub.html
https://www.midwestsds.com/press.html
https://www.aerostratospheric.com/

About Aerostratospheric
Aerostratospheric is an Illinois nonprofit corporation. The organization designs, builds, and flies lightweight high-altitude payload science platforms under FAA Part 101 and publishes open atmospheric observations through UOGW (Unified Open Global Weather) for research, education, and public reuse. Midwest Stratospheric Data Systems operates as a limited partnership under Aerostratospheric. Corporate office: 801 S West St, Suite 101, Olney, IL 62450. Launch operations: Casey, Illinois. Web: https://www.aerostratospheric.com/ and https://www.midwestsds.com/

Media contact:
Elena Vargas, Press and Communications
elena@midwestsds.com
https://www.midwestsds.com/press.html
Collaboration scheduling: https://calendly.com/aerostratospheric/15min

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On September 12, 2026, the lightweight 87 g radar reflector flew its first flight in private preparation / Flown context on the same window as the x1Albatross envelope check (burst 59,000 ft; envelope check, not long-duration operational x1Albatross). That archive is cited for awareness only — not as an invitation to attend a pad day.

without waiting for a full product page.

xAirship is listed on the xPrototypes page as the low-altitude counterpart when a stratospheric profile is the wrong tool. The unit is a 6 m (20 ft) high-grade PVC aerostat that can fly tethered or under radio control. Fill is specified as two 200 scf helium cylinders. xAirship is a bench prototype — not a Platforms catalog flight product.