Give it up for SecQuest - a rabbit-hunting spaceplane sponsor

We invite Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) fans to give it up today for SecQuest, one of the magnificent corporate responders to our Kickstarter tin-rattling to take the Vulture 2 ballocket launch to Spaceport America.

We'll be bringing you details on all our splendid sponsors in due course, but let's kick off with a look at SecQuest, which director Darren Fuller described as "a boutique security consultancy dealing with everything from standard network/application penetration testing to more exotic things like red teaming, VSAT and IBM iSeries assessments."

Darren explained: "Our company ethos is to avoid selling snake oil and focus on giving clients excellent service and value for money."

Fair enough, but what attracted this snake-oil-free UK business to LOHAN? Well, Darren and fellow director Paul Marsh like a touch of High Altitude Ballooning (HAB) tomfoolery, and a bit more. Darren said: "When we're not breaking in to banks or fiddling with mobile apps, SecQuest are HAB fans and have experimented with mixing balloons and Wi-Fi in the past (balloon-driving?)"

Paul – aka M0EYT in hamspeak – has been Slashdotted twice, most recently for discovering the Chinese Jade Rabbit Moon probe was still alive before the Chinese confirmed it.

Apparently, "this accolade was second only to being a 'Sun Spot' feature in everyone's favourite red-top for some deep space signalling mischief," Darren teased.

Although further details were not forthcoming, a quick bit of digging revealed that Paul has serious form when it comes to pointing antennas at the heavens. In 2005, he was able "to detect and receive the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at 8.4 GHz using an SDR-14 and a couple of twisted wires", while more recently he's been listening in on India's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft.

Top stuff. In conclusion, Darren and Mark said of their LOHAN involvement: "We're proud to be a part of this momentous occasion and wish the SPB team and trusty Playmonaut good luck and Godspeed!" ®

More from the lovely LOHAN:

• You can find full LOHAN coverage right here.
• If you're new to LOHAN, seek out our mission summary for enlightenment.
• There are photos our our magnificent Vulture 2 spaceplane here, and detailed structural plans here.
• For your further viewing pleasure, we have all our photographic material stored on Flickr.
• Our LOHAN and Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) videos live on YouTube.
• We sometimes indulge in light consensual tweeting, as you can see here.