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Wallops Flight Facility

Launch updates from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

NASA’s HASP Scientific Balloon Launches from Fort Sumner

The HASP mission was launched on a scientific balloon from NASA’s launch facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, at 8:05 a.m. MDT (10:05 a.m. EDT). The balloon and payload reached a float altitude of around 122,000 feet and flew for a total of 6 hours, 45 minutes.

This year’s campaign marks the 20th flight for the High-Altitude Student Platform carrying payloads developed by student teams. Over the course of two decades, more than 1,900 students from about 25 institutions across the United States have participated in flying experiments on the balloon platform.

The High-Altitude Student Platform program is a partnership among the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium, the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and the agency’s Balloon Program Office and Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas. 


Second NASA Balloon Mission Launches from Fort Sumner

The CLIC 2 mission was hand launched on a scientific balloon from NASA's launch facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, at 7:16 a.m. MDT (9:16 a.m. EDT). The balloon is the second flight for the Compact Large-sensor Imaging Camera mission, carrying a small camera system that can process images in real-time to help determine safe landing spots for rovers for future Moon or Mars missions. The balloon and payload reached a float altitude of around 126,000 feet, and flew for a total of 3 hours, 41 minutes. 

New Mexico Scientific Balloon Campaign Update – Sept. 15

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.

A large scientific balloon being inflated with helium during launch preparations, with ground crew and support vehicles visible below against a clear blue sky
UCLA's ELVES (Electron Losses driven by VLF Emissions) scientific balloon during inflation on September 15, 2025, at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The balloon carried instruments to study electron precipitation in the upper atmosphere.
NASA/ Patrick Rogers