Looking back on the practicle experience gained through the stratellite fiasco and especially the lack of knowledge regarding FAA restrictions, specifically the logistics of getting something flying over the U.S.; if I were the FAA and someone wanted to put airframes up there where they could fall back down, and leave them up there for a year or more, I would require testing along the lines of other standard procedures having to do with consumer products and building systems. That means real time duration and environmental simulation.
Picture this, a facility housing an environmentally controlled wind tunnel. I'm not up on this kind of thing so one may already exist, but the tunnel would need to be big enough to hold the prototype, have a closed loop air circulation system that could be ozone rich and whatever else would be the atmosphere in the stratosphere, have a bank of UV rich lighting fixtures inside, and have an air chilling system, possibly cryogenic, that would keep the temps where they should be. Then park the prototype in there with all it's navigational systems active and let it fly in there for 12 months or more. Whether or not a low air pressure system with real air speeds, or a scaled down airspeed at normal air pressures would be required would be a function of whether or not the helium system would be adequately tested by the normal air pressure approach.
At any rate add in normal temperature and lighting day and night cycles and you would be able to develop a proven system that would not require a leap of faith for public safety.
That is what I imagine the reality of getting a stratellite flying is and if it hasn't happened, it probably needs to. Obviously way over and above anything that Globetel can achieve, but fun to think about anyway.
