NASA's scientific balloon program is managed out of the agency's Wallops Flight Facility.
NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program is back in Antarctica for another long-duration scientific balloon campaign, with two launches planned from the icy surface. Launch operations will begin early December from the agency’s facility located near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf. To follow the missions, visit NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon […]
NASA’s Balloon Program Office launched the sixth scientific balloon flight for the fall 2025 campaign. The Balloon Program Office, Optimization Opportunity Payload (BOOP) mission launched at 9:44 a.m. EDT (7:44 a.m. MDT) on Sept. 19. The balloon and payload reached a float altitude of 114,000 feet and flew for 4 hours, 44 minutes. BOOP is […]
The Electron Losses driven by VLF EmissionS (ELVES) mission launched at 10:04 a.m. EDT (8:04 a.m. MDT) on Sept. 15, 2025. The balloon and payload reached a float altitude of 125,000 feet and flew for 8 hours, 12 minutes. The experiment includes multiple detection methods for both Very Low Frequency (VLF) emissions and electron precipitation, including magnetometers, x-ray detectors, and cosmic noise absorption measurements, advancing our understanding of radiation belt dynamics and ionospheric interactions.
To follow the missions in the 2025 Fort Sumner campaign, visit NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility website for real-time updates of balloons’ altitudes and locations during flight.
NASA launched two scientific balloon missions from the agency’s Fort Sumner, New Mexico, launch facility Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. This marks the first time two scientific balloons were launched on the same day since 2011.
The JPL-Remote mission launched at 10:12 a.m. EDT (8:12 a.m. MDT) Sept. 14, 2025. The balloon and payload reached a float altitude of 127,000 feet and flew for 12 hours, 58 minutes. The mission’s main goal is to measure how different gases are layered in Earth’s atmosphere to check satellite data and track long-term changes since 1989.
The Cosmic Dust Collection Project (CDCP) mission launched at 12:10 p.m. EDT (10:10 a.m. MDT). The balloon and payload reached a float altitude of 125,000 feet and flew for 8 hours, 36 minutes. The mission’s aimed to capture cosmic dust at different altitudes in Earth’s atmosphere to study how much of this dust has contaminated the stratosphere.
To follow the missions in the 2025 Fort Sumner campaign, visit NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility website for real-time updates of balloons’ altitudes and locations during flight.
The High-Altitude Student Platform 2 (HASP2) successfully launched at 8:28 a.m. MDT (10:28 a.m. EDT) Thursday, Sept. 4 and reached a float altitude of nearly 122,000 feet. HASP remained in flight for a total of 11 hours,40 minutes. Science reports a successful flight. The balloon and payload have safely landed, and recovery efforts are underway.
The HASP2 program is a collaborative effort between Louisiana Space Grant Consortium at Louisiana State University (LaSPACE - LSU), NASA SMD: Astrophysics Division, NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO) and the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) to develop and operate an inexpensive platform that can be used to flight test compact satellites, prototypes and other small payloads designed and built by students. The High Altitude Student Platform 2 (HASP2) is designed to carry up to twenty-four (24) student payloads at a time to an altitude of about 110,000 feet with flight durations of 15 to 20 hours.
Student Payloads and Organizations for 2025 include:
Aug. 21, 2025: The Salter Test Flight launched at 9:21 a.m. EDT (7:21 a.m. MDT) Thursday, Aug. 21 from the agency’s balloon launch facility, marking the first successful balloon flight of the campaign. The balloon and payload reached a float altitude of 124,000 feet, and flew for a total of 5 hours, 4 minutes. The hardware test flight reported a healthy balloon and flight systems, and requirements were met before successful termination. Several smaller payloads, or piggyback missions, rode along to support science and technology development, including numerous student experiments. Recovery efforts are underway.
A NASA Scientific Balloon Program annual campaign is taking flight at the agency’s balloon launch facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Seven balloon flights carrying scientific experiments and technology demonstrations are scheduled to launch starting in mid-August. To follow the missions in the 2025 Fort Sumner campaign, visit NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility website for real-time updates […]
The second test flight of NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign was safely terminated at 1:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 13 (U.S. Eastern Time) over Argentina. The mission remained in flight for 9 days, 6 hours, and 36 minutes. Balloon operators from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Palestine, Texas, sent flight termination commands […]
The first flight of NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign was safely terminated at 7:46 a.m. Sunday, May 4 (in U.S. Eastern Time) after 17 days, 13 hours, and 47 minutes in flight around the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitude band. Flight controllers at the agency’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, conducted a […]
The second of two planned scientific balloon flights for NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign successfully lifted off from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, at 11:38 a.m. NZST, Sunday, May 4 (7:38 p.m., Saturday, May 3 in U.S. Eastern Time). The 18.8 million-cubic-foot super pressure balloon will ascend over the next few hours until […]
