Wallops Flight Facility

NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program has completed four successful Antarctica flights during a long-duration campaign that began in early December. The balloons launched from the agency’s facility located near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf.   The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) balloon lifted off Dec. 15. The GAPS payload is an experiment designed to detect anti-matter particles entering Earth’s atmosphere to help reveal the origin of dark matter — an invisible […]

The second scientific balloon flight for NASA’s Antarctic scientific balloon campaign has reached its float altitude of 120,000 feet after lifting off from the agency’s facility located near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf at 5:56 a.m. NZST, Saturday, Dec. 20 (11:56 a.m., Friday, Dec. 19 in U.S. Eastern […]

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window extending from Dec. 18-23, 12-4 a.m. EST each night. This launch supports the United States Space Force.   The rocket launch may be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region. A launch livestream will be provided by Rocket Lab on […]

The first scientific balloon flight of this year’s NASA Antarctica Balloon Campaign reached its float altitude after lifting off from the agency’s facility located near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf at 5:30 a.m. NZST, Tuesday, Dec 16 (11:30 a.m., Monday, Dec. 15 in U.S. Eastern Time). The balloon […]

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 Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is supporting sounding rocket launch operations during a window extending from Dec. 2-9, 2025. The launch window each day will be 7:45 a.m.- 12 p.m. EST. No real-time launch status updates will be available. The launch will not be livestreamed.

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is supporting suborbital rocket launch operations during a window extending from Nov. 14 -21, 2025.  No real-time launch status updates or livestream will be available.

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 […]

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is supporting suborbital rocket launch operations during a window extending from Sept. 20 – Oct. 10, 2025. No real-time launch status updates or livestream will be available