Tables of stratospheric balloons launched worldwide since 1947

In the tables that we present here you will find the complete record of stratospheric balloon launches available in our database separated for years and ordered chronologically. Note that the data entered so far in our database are about 65% of all balloon launch activity worldwide from 1947 to date, so it should not be taken as suitable values for statistics of any kind. It is likely that the process of consolidating all the data available still will take several years to complete.

The little number in the blue badge indicates in each case, the number of records that Stratocat hold in the database for that particular year. Clicking on each year number, you can access tables containing as much as possible information on the missions performed that year: launch base, duration of the flight, purpose of the mission and landing place of the payload. In some cases, clicking in the experiment's name you will access a complete flight data sheet featuring a detailed account of the balloon operations as well the scientific experiments carried, their purpose, results, related links and when available images of different instances of the mission.

Finally in the table at the bottom of this page you will find a snapshot of the last thirty records incorporated to our database.

Total number of balloon launches in the database: 14998							1947 16	1948 22	1949 46
1950 14	1951 64	1952 140	1953 532	1954 312	1955 333	1956 819	1957 482	1958 879	1959 494
1960 408	1961 405	1962 375	1963 308	1964 459	1965 459	1966 436	1967 365	1968 295	1969 325
1970 355	1971 237	1972 255	1973 236	1974 164	1975 266	1976 208	1977 204	1978 179	1979 225
1980 163	1981 126	1982 135	1983 142	1984 97	1985 100	1986 93	1987 98	1988 109	1989 93
1990 127	1991 109	1992 134	1993 84	1994 106	1995 107	1996 72	1997 103	1998 106	1999 125
2000 123	2001 96	2002 81	2003 82	2004 79	2005 128	2006 107	2007 73	2008 61	2009 50
2010 60	2011 55	2012 96	2013 196	2014 62	2015 49	2016 45	2017 122	2018 187	2019 267
2020 267	2021 148	2022 18

Last 30 records incorporated into our database (last update 22-May-2022 - 11:30:43am)

Launch base	Date	Flight Duration	Experiment	Payload landing place or cause of the failure
Sanriku	8/31/1994	---	CRYOGENIC SAMPLER	--- No Data ---
Sanriku	6/8/1993	---	CRYOGENIC SAMPLER	--- No Data ---
Sanriku	5/21/1988	---	CRYOGENIC SAMPLER	--- No Data ---
Sanriku	6/2/1987	---	CRYOGENIC SAMPLER	--- No Data ---
Sanriku	5/28/1986	---	CRYOGENIC SAMPLER	--- No Data ---
Raven campus, Baltic (SD)	5/16/2022	~ 2 h	RAVEN AEROSTAR FLIGHT 595	E of Sutherland, Iowa, US
Raven campus, Baltic (SD)	5/10/2022	12 h 30 m	RAVEN AEROSTAR FLIGHT 594	27 km SW of Morris, Minnesota, US
San Manuel (AZ)	3/10/2022	---	TRAINING FLIGHT	--- No Data ---
Spaceport Tucson (AZ)	5/5/2022	6 d 17 h 40 m	STRATOLLITE - GRYPHON XXIV	Impact in the Atlantic Ocean, 13 km W of Bimini
Sanriku	9/2/1982	---	GRAB SAMPLER	--- No Data ---
Sanriku	6/3/1980	---	GRAB SAMPLER	--- No Data ---
Santa Fe County (NM)	4/28/2022	5 d 7 h 2 m	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 581	46 km W of Albany, Georgia, US
Santa Fe County (NM)	4/26/2022	14 d 10 h	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 583	Near Rio Zarquito, Izabal, Guatemala
New Brighton (MN)	8/14/1953	---	GRAB BAG SAMPLING SYSTEM	--- No Data ---
Spaceport Tucson (AZ)	4/9/2022	4 d 7 h	STRATOLLITE - GRYPHON XXIII	50 km ESE of Alliance, Nebraska, US
Biella	10/14/1954	F 5 h 40 m	EMULSION STACK	Near Briancon, France
Fort Magsaysay	4/1/2022	~ 8 d	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 587	Last known position in the Pacific Ocean NE of Oki Daito Island, Okinawa
Fort Magsaysay	4/1/2022	15 d 10 h 33 m	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 586	10 km W of Marysville, Kansas, US
Fort Magsaysay	3/27/2022	~ 5 d	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 589	Last known position in the Pacific Ocean SE of Oki Daito Island, Okinawa
Fort Magsaysay	3/29/2022	3 d 1 h 33 m	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 588	Impact in the South China Sea, 70 km W off the coast of Ilocos Sur, Philippines
Fort Magsaysay	3/27/2022	1 h 40 m	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 585	Possible balloon failure at 57.000 ft. Landing near Duruplak, Philippines
Santa Fe County (NM)	3/16/2022	23 h 10 m	THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 580	52 km NE of Tucumcari, New Mexico, US
Holloman AFB (NM)	5/16/1972	---	INFRARED RADIOMETER	--- No Data ---
Holloman AFB (NM)	6/8/1971	---	INFRARED RADIOMETER	Near Socorro, New Mexico, US
Holloman AFB (NM)	2/25/1971	---	INFRARED RADIOMETER	--- No Data ---
Bayannuur City	11/??/2019	---	TURBULENCE STUDIES IN LOWER STRATOSPHERE	--- No Data ---
Richvale (CA)	10/24/2013	20 h 24 m	PROJECT LOON FLIGHT I-106	25 km E of Tonopah, Nevada, US
Richvale (CA)	10/24/2013	17 h 40 m	PROJECT LOON FLIGHT I-105	48 km NW of Tonopah, Nevada, US
Raven campus, Baltic (SD)	9/20/2013	6 d 13 h 33 m	PROJECT LOON FLIGHT I-104	NE of Yankton, South Dakota, US
Raven campus, Baltic (SD)	9/20/2013	2 h 9 m	PROJECT LOON FLIGHT I-103	SE of Renville, Minnesota, US

Stratospheric balloons

Chronological lists of launches worldwide since 1947

Total number of balloon launches in the database: 14998

Last 30 records incorporated into our database (last update 22-May-2022 - 11:30:43am)

About StratoCat

Some Statistics