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Wallops Flight Facility

Launch updates from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

    NASA Wallops to Support March Sounding Rocket Launches 

    Aerial view of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility's launch range structures along the coastline of Wallops Island, Virginia. Ocean, bay and marsh lands surround the range.

    Two sounding rockets are scheduled for liftoff between March 17 and March 23 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility launch range in Virginia. The launch window each day is from 8 p.m. to midnight EDT. No real-time launch status updates or livestream will be available.   NASA Wallops provides services such as vehicle tracking, data telemetry, and range safety from NASA’s only owned and operated launch […]

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    NASA Wallops to Support Rocket Lab Launch

    Rocket Lab suborbital rocket launches from Pad-0C (Launch Complex 2) on Wallops Island, Virginia, at 8 a.m. on Nov. 18, 2025. The mission was Rocket Lab's sixth launch of its HASTE rocket for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Led by MDA, the mission deployed a government-provided primary payload developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and multiple secondary payloads by federal and industry partners, which tested key technologies for missle defense applications.

    Update Feb. 27: The Rocket Lab suborbital rocket successfully launched Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. EST. Update Feb. 26: The next launch attempt for Rocket Lab is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 27, 4-7 p.m. EST. Update Feb. 25: Rocket Lab is standing down from a launch attempt Wednesday, Feb. 25. The next launch attempt will […]

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    NASA Rocket to Conduct ‘CT Scan’ of Auroral Electricity

    On the left side of a snow-covered driveway, a life-size red and white rocket model is posed next to a Poker Flat Research Range sign. Snowy spruce trees line the driveway into the range, where an automated metal gate allows entry. In the distance is a hill, also covered in trees and snow, and sheer clouds filtering golden sunlight.

    UPDATE (Feb. 10, 2026): NASA’s Black and Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor and Geophysical Non-Equilibrium Ionospheric System Science (GNEISS) sounding rocket missions have both successfully launched from Alaska. The Black and Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor mission launched Feb. 9 at 3:29 a.m. AKST (7:29 a.m. EST), reaching a peak altitude of about 224 miles (360 kilometers). […]

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    NASA Completes Latest Scientific Balloon Campaign From Antarctica

    A white scientific balloon rises into the bright blue sky above snowy Antarctica. The sky and the balloon take up most of the image, with the ground only being a small white stripe at the bottom of the photo. The balloon has a long white "tail" with orange and black portions.

    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 […]

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    Second Scientific Balloon for NASA Launches from Antarctica

    A large metal scientific instrument that is mainly white with black panels is suspended off the ground by a large crane. A white trail of material is on the ground and attaches to a partially inflated white balloon in the background on a snowy landscape.

    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 […]

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    NASA Wallops Launch Range to Support Electron Launch 

    Rocket Lab's 59-foot Electron rocket at the company's Launch Complex-2 on NASA's Wallops Island.

    Update: This mission carrying NASA’s DiskSat technology demonstration was successfully launched at 12:03 a.m. EST on Thursday Dec. 18, 2025. 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 […]

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    First NASA Scientific Balloon Launches from Antarctica

    A man in a yellow safety vest looks at a scientific balloon in the distance. In the foreground is the GAPS payload hanging from a crane preparing for launch.

    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 […]

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    Two NASA Scientific Balloon Launches Planned From Antarctica

    A large scientific balloon payload is being lifted by a black crane against a bright blue Antarctic sky. The payload consists of multiple tiers of white protective panels or covers arranged in a cylindrical configuration, with solar panels visible on the top section and various antennas protruding upward. The equipment is suspended by cables and positioned over a wheeled transport cart on the snow-covered ground. A technician in a bright yellow safety vest operates the crane from an elevated platform on the left side of the image

    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 […]

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