BBB, so what? Sanswire/TAO is beyond this - they have conducted untethered flights with the SAS-51 and now are conducting untethered tests for a new, higher altitude airship:
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. and STUTTGART, Germany, Feb. 14, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Sanswire Networks, subsidiary of GlobeTel Communications Corp. (Pink Sheets:GTEM), and TAO-Technologies GmbH today announced that they've begun testing a lighter-than-air (LTA) platform capable of operating at altitudes of approximately 65,000 ft. The program's ultimate goal is to produce long endurance, LTA vehicles that provide various security- and communications-related services from the stratosphere for extended time periods.
The current phase of the program consists of several untethered air- and ground-based tests of the proprietary components and systems. Future phases will include the unveiling of the stratospheric vehicle, and testing at gradually increasing altitudes that would lead to the vehicle's launch into the stratosphere. Development and testing is ongoing, with the ultimate goal being one of the first controlled stratospheric flight and, as important, controlled return and recovery.