SPOT Trace – Altitude Reports Way Beyond Spec

The SPOT Trace with Annotated Dimensions

SPOT LLC, the maker of the SPOT Gen 3, the SPOT GPS Messenger, as well as the SPOT Trace, specifies it products have an upper altitude limit of 21,325 feet.  The implication is that these devices are not designed to report latitude or longitude data once a flight passes through this limit.  

Nonetheless, the SPOT Trace has been flown successful beyond this maximum.  In one instance the flight location was reported successful all the way up (and back) from 65,000 feet.  In a more recent test, the Trace properly reported location coordinates at 33,000 feet.  To be clear, the SPOT itself was not reporting altitude as it just gives latitude and longitude data; a separate method was used to capture altitude and link it to the SPOT location data.


High altitude flight hobbyist should understand that the SPOT products are very sensitive to their orientation to the sky.  Simply put, they must face “up” to reliably send location data to the overhead satellite receiver network. A separate blog post discusses a customized gimbal designed to keep the Trace always facing up during balloon flight.