A £15,000 balloon is set to reveal the secrets of the upper atmosphere to students in Swindon.

During the Christmas term, Year 9 media students at the Dorcan Academy entered a competition to win a state-of-the-art space balloon, with the help of teacher Ruth Farrow.

The students were required to make a 60-second video outlining why they would like to win the device, which can travel thousands of feet into the sky, taking pictures as it goes.

"In February, Mrs Farrow received the news that they had won the competition," said a school spokesman.

"The equipment arrived in a huge, intimidating cardboard box with many instructions and a small team of Year 9s were given the task of working out both the technology and when we should launch the balloon."

The team was made up of Finley Sly, Ellie Skull, Zac Grounsell, Cavan Alford, Jack Clapton Daniel Richmond, Connor Law, Jack Townsend and William Price-Rolfe, who plotted the release, which took place this morning.

Attached to the balloon was a GoPro Hero 3+ camera, with the team needing to track the device using GPS in order to download the images it took.

Alongside the students was a team of teachers to support the project, featuring Ivan Kirk, Shawnee Thomas, Den Dancey, Adam Miller and Mrs Farrow.

And the spokesman said after such detailed planning, the launch went well.

"This morning presented us with perfect conditions for the launch," he said.

"Blue sky, not a cloud in sight.

"All the students present at The Dorcan Academy were invited to watch the countdown and, with great excitement, we launched at 9.30am.

"The balloon went out of range at 10am, just north of Carterton."

To watch the students’ competition entry video, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=Earq2aueevI

  • Don’t miss Friday’s Adver, when we will find out where the balloon landed - and see what it captured on camera.