Stratospheric balloons launched

worldwide in 2003

In the table below you will find the records of stratospheric balloons launched from different countries and places during 2003, which are currently available in StratoCat's database. Each row shows basic data about the launch base from which departed, date and time of the launch, and if available the duration of the mission and the site of termination or landing place of the payload.


Regarding the kind of payload or experiment transported in each balloon mission, if you click the experiment name a text will be displayed showing the name of the scientific institutions involved in that mission, a brief resume of the purpose of the experiment carried onboard as well the scientific results obtained, and other information of relevance from that particular mission. Finaly at the bottom of the window there are links to external references. In some cases, these references are available throught scientific websites or journals for free. In other cases however, the information was published on journals only accesible throught direct suscription or using the access provided by Universities or research centers.

Launch baseDateFlight DurationExperimentPayload landing place or cause of the failure
McMurdo1/610 dBOOMERANG (Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics)69 miles S of Dome Fuji Station, Antarctica
Syowa1/62 hELECTRIC FIELD MEASUREMENTS--- No Data ---
ESRANGE1/10---OPENING FLIGHT--- No Data ---
Syowa1/1318 dELECTRIC FIELD MEASUREMENTSIn the sea 300 km off the Chilean coast.
Syowa1/1325 dELECTRIC FIELD MEASUREMENTSIn the sea 500 km off the Chilean coast.
ESRANGE1/16---ELHYSA (Etude de L'Hygromérie Stratosphérique)--- No Data ---
ESRANGE1/16---AEROSOL STUDIES--- No Data ---
ESRANGE1/21---SPIRALE (Spectroscopie Infra-Rouge par Absorption de Laser Embarqué)--- No Data ---
ESRANGE1/22---AEROSOL STUDIES--- No Data ---
Tillamook (OR)2/1022 h 30 mDRIFTSONDE TEST--- No Data ---
Baurú GLB (SP)2/18---SAOZ (Systeme d'Analyse par Observation Zenithale) + NARCISSE TEST15 km NE from Bauru where a team was sent for recovery and investigations. SAOZ payload seems to be only slightly damaged.
Baurú GLB (SP)2/18---SAOZ + SAOZ-H2O + DIRAC + H2O/O3--- No Data ---
TIFR Hyderabad2/19---J-50 - INDO-JAPANESE TELESCOPE--- No Data ---
Baurú GLB (SP)2/193 h 30 mDIRAC CFCs/SLS + µLIDAR + Descartes CFCs/SLS + O3 SSS/H2O SAW30 kms E of Assis, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Baurú GLB (SP)2/2010 dSAOZ-H2O (Systeme d'Analyse par Observation Zenithale) + NARCISSE + RADIOMETERIn a small mountain area S of Townsville.
Baurú GLB (SP)2/22---INMARSAT EC-TRACK + RUMBA-H2O/O3 + RUMBA VORCORE-TURBULENCE10 km from Bauru, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Baurú GLB (SP)2/23---SAOZ + SAOZ/BrO + DIRAC + µLIDAR + O3 SSS + H2O SAW--- No Data ---
Baurú GLB (SP)2/238 dMIR (Montgolfier Infra-Rouge)Payload lost in the ocean.
ESRANGE3/1---AMON (Absorption de Minoritaires, Ozone et NOx) + AMON-RA--- No Data ---
TIFR Hyderabad3/3---FPS100 - INFRARED TELESCOPEGround abort launch
ESRANGE3/4---LPMA (Limb Profile Monitor of the Atmosphere) + DOAS + micro DOAS + CAESR40 km northwest of Raiskio, Finland
ESRANGE3/6---TRIPLE + CHILD--- No Data ---
Cachoeira Paulista (SP)3/6~ 15 hSPRITES DETECTIONLast Known coordinates: 22.44º S, 312.40º W.
ESRANGE3/16---SAOZ (Systeme d'Analyse par Observation Zenithale) + SAOZ Bro--- No Data ---
Alice Springs3/1712 h 13 mNIGHTGLOW + ULDB (Ultra Long Duration Balloon)130 miles WSW of Ayers Rock, Australia
ESRANGE3/2015 hMIPAS-B2 (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding - Balloonborne)50 kms from the launch site.
ESRANGE3/23---LPMA (Limb Profile Monitor of the Atmosphere) + DOAS + micro DOAS + CAESR60 km E of Rovaniemi, Finland
ESRANGE3/25---ELITE--- No Data ---
ESRANGE3/30---SAOZ (Systeme d'Analyse par Observation Zenithale) + SAOZ Bro--- No Data ---
TIFR Hyderabad3/30---FPS100 - INFRARED TELESCOPE--- No Data ---
ESRANGE3/31---MKIV INTERFEROMETER + UV O3 PHOTOMETER--- No Data ---
ESRANGE3/31~ 3 hMKIV INTERFEROMETER + UV O3 PHOTOMETERNear the village of Somma in NE Finland
Fort Sumner (NM)5/2426 h 33 mMAXIPOL8 miles SW of Wickenberg, Arizona, US
ESRANGE6/5---HSFD (High Speed Flight Demonstrator)--- No Data ---
Trapani6/7~ 4 hHASI (Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument)In southern Sicily, Italy
ESRANGE6/9---TRIPLE--- No Data ---
Longyearbyen6/151 dPATHFINDER - 1In the Greenland Sea.
Palestine (TX)6/1510 h 41 mARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission)20 miles ENE of Snyder,Texas, US
Longyearbyen6/161 dPATHFINDER - 2In the Greenland Sea.
Longyearbyen6/1918 hPATHFINDER - 360 kms away from launch site
ESRANGE7/1---HSFD (High Speed Flight Demonstrator)In the so called "Zone B" devoted to the landing of the nosecones of the rockets launched from ESRANGE
ESRANGE7/33 hMIPAS-B2 (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding - Balloonborne)In a birch grove in the Scandinavian mountains.
Longyearbyen7/95 hPATHFINDER - 415 kms away from launch site
Longyearbyen7/125 dPATHFINDER - 6--- No Data ---
Longyearbyen7/121 hPATHFINDER - 5In the sea near launch site
Palestine (TX)7/136 h 27 mSOLAR CELL CALIBRATION14 miles SSE of San Angelo,Texas, US
Laramie (WY)7/28---AEROSOL COUNTER--- No Data ---
N.Battleford (SK)8/??---LE GRAND SAUT - II (Fournier)balloon ripped off during inflation
Palestine (TX)8/75 h 3 mPARACHUTE SYSTEM TEST FLIGHT20 miles SE of San Angelo,Texas, US
Palestine (TX)8/116 hSOLAR CELL CALIBRATION65 miles NW of Austin,Texas, US
Palestine (TX)8/154 h 24 mPARACHUTE SYSTEM TEST FLIGHT16 miles W of Brownwood, Texas, US
Palestine (TX)8/168 h 7 mSOLAR CELL CALIBRATION15 miles of Water Valley, Texas, US
Tillamook (OR)8/1911 h 30 mDRIFTSONDE TEST--- No Data ---
Sanriku8/233 h 38 mSOLAR SAIL DEPLOYMENT TESTOn the sea 20 km E of Touni Bay, Japan
Sanriku8/306 h 13 mBSMILES (Balloon-borne Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder)In the sea 40 km off the E coast of Miyako, Japan
Sanriku9/15 h 23 mMACFT (Membrane Aeroshell Capsule Flight Test)On the Pacific Ocean, near japanese shore.
Fort Sumner (NM)9/19 h 48 mSBI (Solar Bolometric Imager)12 miles SE of Bloomfield, New Mexico, US
Tillamook (OR)9/263 h 30 mDRIFTSONDE TEST--- No Data ---
Sanriku9/38 h 33 mSi/CdTe SEMICONDUCTOR COMPTON TELESCOPE (PROTOTYPE)--- No Data ---
RV Triton9/3---QINETIQ1 (Elson - Prescott)Failure of the balloon. Mission aborted
Sanriku9/122 h 47 mFLIGHT PERFORMANCE TEST (BREAK DOWN TEST)--- No Data ---
Sanriku9/132 h 50 mOBSERVATION OF STRATOSPHERIC OZONE--- No Data ---
Fort Sumner (NM)9/165 h 24 mOMS (Observations of the Middle Stratosphere) + ALIAS II + UV O3 PHOTOMETER39 miles ENE of Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, US
Sanriku9/173 h 36 mLOADING EQUIPMENT TEST (PICTURE DIGITAL TRANSMISSION)--- No Data ---
Sanriku9/18~ 4 hULTRA THIN FILM BALLOON TEST--- No Data ---
Aire Sur L'Adour9/185 hCASOLBA (CAlibration de cellules SOLaires sur vol BAllon)Near Gimont, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Sanriku9/195 h 10 mLOADING EQUIPMENT TEST (PLD COMMAND TEST)--- No Data ---
Fort Sumner (NM)9/1921 h 13 mMKIV INTERFEROMETER + ALIAS II + UV O3 PHOTOMETER66 miles WSW of Phoenix, Arizona, US
Aire Sur L'Adour9/254 hrSDLA-LAMA (Spectromètre à Diode Laser Accordable - Laser pour l'Analyse du Méthane Atmosphérique)--- No Data ---
Fort Sumner (NM)9/28~ 27 hBLAST (Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimeter Telescope)35 miles SW of Farmington, New Mexico, US
Fort Sumner (NM)10/14 h 38 mBESS (Balloon-borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer)22 miles SSE of Portales, New Mexico, US
Fort Sumner (NM)10/56 h 56 mCWAS (Cryogenic Whole Air Sampler)44 miles ENE of Ft.Sumner, New Mexico, US
Aire Sur L'Adour10/9---LPMA (Limb Profile Monitor of the Atmosphere) + DOAS--- No Data ---
Fort Sumner (NM)10/9~ 25 hNEUTRON SPECTROMETER40 miles WNW of Socorro, New Mexico, US
TIFR Hyderabad11/24---J-50 - INDO-JAPANESE TELESCOPE--- No Data ---
McMurdo12/9---PATHFINDERLost over Pacific Ocean.
McMurdo12/1214 dTRACER (Transition Radiation Array for Cosmic Energetic Radiation)121 miles W of McMurdo Station, Antarctica
McMurdo12/15~ 30 hMINIS (Miniature Spectrometer)Last known position 77.68 S, 127.87 E - Not recovered
TIFR Hyderabad12/17---LASE (Large Area Scintillation counter Experiment)--- No Data ---
McMurdo12/1718 dTIGER (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder)270 miles WSW of Mawson Station, Antarctica
Nova Ponte (MG)12/18---MASCO (Telescopio de Mascara Codificada)No flight
Syowa12/262 hCRYOGENIC SAMPLERN of Syowa station, Antarctica

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