Here you can browse StratoCat's comprehensive database of stratospheric balloon launches, sorted by year. Please note that while the database covers approximately 75% of global balloon launch activity since 1947, it does not provide statistically representative values yet. Consolidating all available data may take several years. Each blue badge number represents the launches performed for that year. Click on a year to view details of the flights including launch base, flight duration, mission purpose, and payload landing location. Some experiments offer further details such as operational accounts, scientific objectives, results, reference links, and related images. For the latest updates, check out the table at the bottom of this page featuring the thirty most recent database entries.


Total number of balloon launches in the database: 15569

1947

16

1948

22

1949

48

1950

14

1951

64

1952

141

1953

532

1954

315

1955

335

1956

824

1957

482

1958

879

1959

498

1960

427

1961

406

1962

384

1963

311

1964

462

1965

462

1966

439

1967

368

1968

305

1969

346

1970

367

1971

247

1972

258

1973

240

1974

179

1975

270

1976

213

1977

210

1978

191

1979

235

1980

191

1981

139

1982

152

1983

146

1984

108

1985

114

1986

105

1987

104

1988

128

1989

103

1990

127

1991

112

1992

137

1993

86

1994

111

1995

113

1996

74

1997

110

1998

107

1999

125

2000

123

2001

96

2002

81

2003

82

2004

79

2005

128

2006

109

2007

73

2008

63

2009

50

2010

61

2011

55

2012

96

2013

196

2014

62

2015

50

2016

46

2017

120

2018

192

2019

284

2020

273

2021

155

2022

77

2023

85

2024

51

Last 30 records incorporated into our database (last update 30-Aug-2024 - 12:35:26pm)

Launch baseDateFlight DurationExperimentPayload landing place or cause of the failure
Fort Sumner (NM)8/28/20246 h 35 mHASP 2.0 (High Altitude Student Platform 2.0)65 km NW of Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
Hurley (SD)8/28/202426 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 704Near Rock Rapids, Iowa, US
Fort Sumner (NM)8/22/20245 h 30 mSALTER TEST FLIGHT50 km NW of Socorro, New Mexico, US
Santa Cruz County (CA)8/21/202411 h 20 mPAYLOAD UNKNOWN28 km E of Lovelock, Nevada, US
Fort Sumner (NM)8/21/20246 h 10 mTINMAN (ThermalIzed Neutron MeAsuremeNt experiment)45 km W of Los Lunas, New Mexico, US
Page (AZ)8/12/20245 h 40 mTECHRISE STUDENT CHALLENGE10 km E of Beaver Dam, Arizona, US
Roswell (NM)8/15/202429 hSCEYE- STRATOSPHERIC AIRSHIP64 km SSE of Portales, New Mexico, US
Guelmim8/8/202422 d 10 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 700Near Spirit Lake, Iowa, US
Guelmim8/7/20242 h 15 mTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT N258THNear Id Nacus, Morocco
Guelmim8/7/202420 d 23 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6985 miles S of Adrian, Minnesota, US
Taiki8/3/20243 hBIOPAUSE PROJECT ATMOSPHERIC SAMPLERIn the Pacific Ocean 30 km SE of Taiki, Japan
Baker Muni8/4/202420 dSTRATO (Strategic Tactical Radio and Tactical Overwatch)Last known position over Central Saskatchewan, Canada
Aire Sur L'Adour5/13/1984---LIMB CAMERAS--- No Data ---
Aire Sur L'Adour5/13/1984---RADIBAL (RADIomètre BALlon)--- No Data ---
Aire Sur L'Adour5/21/1991---SIDAMS (Simultaneous Ion Detection in Atmospheric Mass Spectrometry)--- No Data ---
Aire Sur L'Adour5/7/1979---LIMB CAMERAS--- No Data ---
Taiki7/25/20241 hHIGH-PRECISION VERIFICATION OF GENERAL RELATIVITY BY LASER FREQUENCY COMPARISONIn the Pacific Ocean, 33 km E of Taiki, Japan
Hurley (SD)7/16/20242 d 3 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 69711 km NNW of West Point, Nebraska, US
Spaceport Tucson (AZ)3/27/20245 hSIRAD 119 km NE of Lordsburg, New Mexico, US
ESRANGE7/13/20243 d 2 hBIG60 + BOOMSSE of Taloyoak, Boothia Peninsula, in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada.
ESRANGE7/10/20246 d 15 hSUNRISE IIIE of Fort Good Hope,Sahtu Region,Northwest Territories, Canada
ESRANGE7/9/20245 d 20 hXL-CALIBURWeste of Kugluktuk in Nunavut Territory, Canada
Taiki7/4/2024~ 2 hRERA #4 (Rubber balloon Experiment for Reentry capsule with thin-type Aeroshell)In the Pacific Ocean, 100 km SE of Taiki, Japan
ESRANGE6/26/202411 hATMOSFER6 miles WSW of Ovre Soppero, Sweden
Cross City (FL)6/25/20244 d 14 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 644Near Quinter, Kansas, EE.UU
Cross City (FL)6/25/202463 d 20 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 643SE of Union, Oregon, US
Cross City (FL)6/25/202438 d 13 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 64255 km SE of Lamar, Colorado, US
Santa Cruz County (CA)4/30/20241 h 40 mPAYLOAD UNKNOWNNear Los Banos, California, US
Santa Cruz County (CA)6/19/20248 h 40 mPAYLOAD UNKNOWNNW of Tonopah, Nevada, US
Avon Park (FL)6/22/202463 d 16 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 641N of Miles City, Montana, US