A suborbital sounding rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window extending from 1 June – 14 June, 2025. No real-time launch status updates will be available. The launch will not be livestreamed, and updates will not be provided during the countdown. The rocket launch may be visible from […]
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 […]
Precision sounding rockets are scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window extending from May 11-18, 2025. No real-time launch status updates will be available. The launch will not be livestreamed, and updates will not be provided during the countdown. The rocket launch may be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region.
Four days into flight, NASA’s second super pressure balloon launched during the agency’s New Zealand campaign remains near the country floating in a wind pattern circulating around and over the country’s North Island.
The test flight is predicted to remain over land for about five more hours before catching zonal winds that will carry it eastward along its typical trajectory around the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes.
Before any land overflight occurs, a thorough assessment is made of the balloon’s health and the forecast trajectory is analyzed from a safety perspective before beginning the overflight.
“We are very proud of all the hard work the team has invested to get us this far,” said Andrew Hamilton, deputy chief of NASA’s Balloon Program Office at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. “The balloon has been performing well, and we are continuing to gather more data and information on the performance of the balloon system. New Zealand is an ideal location for this kind of mission, allowing us to have extended time in the stratosphere as we circle the globe.”
If weather permits, the balloon may be visible from the ground, particularly at sunrise and sunset. NASA invites the public to track the balloon’s path in real-time here.
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 super pressure balloon flight of NASA’s New Zealand Balloon Campaign is now at float at 108,000 feet after lifting 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 football-stadium-sized, heavy-lift super pressure balloon is on a mission planned for up […]
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 […]
More than 16 days after lifting off from Wānaka, New Zealand, NASA’s football-stadium-sized super pressure balloon has completed its first full circumnavigation of the globe — a significant milestone for the test flight around the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes. The balloon crossed the 169.24 east longitude line at 7:22 a.m. Saturday, May 3 (U.S. Eastern Time). […]
The second scientific balloon in NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign is now flight-ready and awaits a next launch opportunity from the agency’s dedicated mid-latitude launch site at Wānaka Airport, New Zealand. This will be the second and final balloon to launch for the campaign. The 18.8-million-cubic-foot (532,000-cubic-meter) helium-filled balloon will travel the […]
NASA’s super pressure balloon test flight carrying the HIWIND payload crossed into South America around 1 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. UTC) today, Wednesday, April 23.
The balloon will pass over Chile and Argentina as it continues its globetrotting journey around the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes.
To track the flight in real-time, visit Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility’s website here.
