Why is there no Lighter-than-Air industry today?
The primary reason that LTA has not re-emerged except for advertising blimps is primarily funding and the difficulty assembling a critical mass for a new capital intensive industry. The business case did not close in the past for many reasons. Few subjects are plagued with more misperceptions and confusion than LTA. The grandiose claims of many promoters over the past decades, combined with recent commercial business failures have muddied the waters. Until now, there was also simply no significant market for LTA technologyno compelling demand for transportation or for surrogate satellites of the type a stratospheric airship may provide. There is also no coherent industry to promote itself and provide professional standards and advocacy. The commercial demand to lift Big, Ugly Freight did not exist, nor was the potential middle market for goods between airfreight and sea freight fully considered. Those markets now do exist, though not without competition in some cases. The demand densit
