Launch updates from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.
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
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.
A suborbital rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window extending from Sept. 5-19, 2025. The launch will not be live streamed, and updates will not be provided during the countdown.
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:
The TOMEX+ sounding rocket mission is targeting Tuesday, Aug. 26, for the next launch attempt. The window will open 10:30 p.m.-3:30 a.m. EDT. Follow live updates on Wallops Facebook and X, with a livestream starting later in the count.
Those in the mid-Atlantic region may catch a glimpse of the rockets, weather permitting.
The TOMEX+ sounding rocket mission is targeting Monday, Aug. 25, for the first launch attempt. The window will open 10 p.m.-3 a.m. EDT. Follow live updates on Wallops Facebook and X, with a livestream beginning five minutes before launch.
Those in the mid-Atlantic region may catch a glimpse of the rockets, weather permitting.
The TOMEX+ sounding rocket mission launch attempt for Sunday, Aug. 24, will be rescheduled to a later date due to cloud cover and continued high sea states in the recovery area. The teams are evaluating a new launch attempt for the upcoming week. The window for the mission runs through Sept. 3.
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.
