Subteams
TARS subteams work together as an integrated system to design and execute successful missions. The External, Mechanical, Electrical, Avionics, and Payload teams each contribute specialized expertise, from securing resources and partnerships to building, powering, computing, and defining mission systems. This close collaboration ensures efficient integration, reliable performance, and steady progress toward TARS’s mission goals.
Mechanical
✳︎
Electrical
✳︎
Avionics
✳︎
Payload
✳︎
External
✳︎
Mechanical ✳︎ Electrical ✳︎ Avionics ✳︎ Payload ✳︎ External ✳︎
Mechanical
The Mechanical Department designs and builds all structural flight hardware within TARS. For our current high-altitude balloon (HIBAL) missions, the team is developing modular payload structures that house avionics, electrical systems, and mission payloads. These structures are designed to survive extreme temperatures and pressures at altitude while remaining recoverable and reusable for future flights. Mechanical works closely with every department to ensure seamless integration across systems.
The Electrical Department is responsible for power distribution and communications across all flight systems. For HIBAL, the team is developing the payload’s electrical power system and communications architecture, ensuring reliable operation throughout ascent, float, descent, and recovery. Electrical plays a critical role in keeping every subsystem powered, connected, and traceable throughout the mission.
Electrical
The Payload Department defines mission objectives and develops the hardware and experiments flown on each mission. As the most versatile department, payload leads mission planning, system requirements, and performance analysis. For the first HIBAL flight, the team is developing a sensor-based payload and running simulations to evaluate flight conditions, constraints, and expected mission outcomes.
Payload
Avionics
The Avionics Department develops all onboard computing hardware and flight software. Currently, the team is designing the primary flight computer and sensor interface for the HIBAL payload. For the first flight, avionics systems will operate in a passive data-collection mode, recording sensor data to validate system performance before transitioning to active control and autonomy in future missions.
External
The External Team at TARS focuses on building and maintaining relationships outside the organization to support the mission’s success. Their goals are to secure sponsorships and funding, manage industry, academic, and institutional partnerships, and handle outreach, communications, and branding. They cover sponsorship relations, professional outreach, public presence, and coordination with external stakeholders.