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: 15327

1947

16

1948

22

1949

48

1950

14

1951

64

1952

141

1953

532

1954

315

1955

334

1956

821

1957

482

1958

879

1959

495

1960

409

1961

405

1962

378

1963

308

1964

461

1965

459

1966

436

1967

364

1968

296

1969

329

1970

357

1971

240

1972

253

1973

236

1974

165

1975

266

1976

210

1977

208

1978

187

1979

228

1980

169

1981

138

1982

147

1983

143

1984

104

1985

110

1986

100

1987

105

1988

113

1989

103

1990

127

1991

112

1992

137

1993

86

1994

110

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

153

2022

76

2023

83

2024

5

Last 30 records incorporated into our database (last update 23-Feb-2024 - 11:20:23pm)

Launch baseDateFlight DurationExperimentPayload landing place or cause of the failure
Spaceport Tucson (AZ)2/23/20244 h 20 mSTRATOLLITENear the ghost town of Dos Cabezas, Arizona, US
Hurley (SD)2/21/202429 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 675Near Waverly, Illinois, US
Osmania Univ., Hyderabad2/26/1969F 3 hNEUTRON DETECTOR--- No Data ---
Aire Sur L'Adour10/28/1987---AIR SAMPLING STUDY FOR KRYPTON-85--- No Data ---
Aire Sur L'Adour10/1/1987---AIR SAMPLING STUDY FOR KRYPTON-85--- No Data ---
Aire Sur L'Adour11/16/1986---AIR SAMPLING STUDY FOR KRYPTON-85--- No Data ---
Santa Fe County (NM)1/25/20243 h 20 mTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 674SE of San Ramon, New Mexico, US
Aire Sur L'Adour9/30/1993---CRYOGENIC SAMPLER (MPAE)--- No Data ---
Gap-Tallard6/19/1985---CRYOGENIC SAMPLER (MPAE)--- No Data ---
Raven campus, Baltic (SD)8/29/20196 hEXO-ATMOSPHERIC AEROBRAKENE of Yankton, South Dakota, US
Hurley (SD)1/20/20247 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 672Near Seymour, Iowa, US
ESRANGE8/30/2016+ 9 hBARREL 4H (Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses)--- No Data ---
McMurdo1/10/202446 hAESOP-Lite + ANIHALAIn the Antarctic Plateau, 77 km NE of Dome Argus
New Brighton (MN)9/3/19521 h 25 mCOSMIC RAY STUDIESNear Lake City, Minnesota, US
Fox Run Regional Park (CO)12/12/20236 h 20 mTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 671Near Sharon Springs, Kansas, US
McMurdo12/10/202315 d 17 hLAURA (Long durAtion evalUation solaR hand Launch)In the Ronne Ice Shelf, 170 km S of Belgrano II base, Antarctica
Santa Fe County (NM)12/7/20232 d 23 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 67022 km SSW of Plainview, Texas, US
Hurley (SD)12/1/20237 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 669Near Altura, Minnesota, US
Hurley (SD)11/29/20238 hTHUNDERHEAD VUELO N258TH - HYDROGEN TESTNear Center Junction, Iowa, US
Roswell (NM)11/3/20231 h 30 mSCEYE- STRATOSPHERIC AIRSHIP48 km E of Roswell, New Mexico, US
Hurley (SD)11/2/202311 h 50 mTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 667Near Orangeville, Michigan, US
MCAS Tustin (CA)3/24/2019---AN ||FLIGHT #3 (Nott - Johnson?)Near Warner Springs, California, US
Hurley (SD)10/24/2023~ 22 dTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 665Last known position on the Pacific Ocean 1000 km W of Costa Rica
Hurley (SD)10/23/202395 dTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6614 km W of Woostock, Minnesota, US
Franklin (IN)10/18/202313 d 2 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 666SE of Belle Glade, Florida, US
Santa Fe County (NM)10/17/20238 d 5 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 664NW of Marion, Arkansas, US
Réunion Island10/8/20238 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 663Last known position 50 km NE of Reunion Island, Indian Ocean
Réunion Island10/8/202342 hTHUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 615Last known position 350 km NW of Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean
León10/4/20232 h 39 mBLUE JAY #3N of Gordaliza del Pino, Leon, Spain
Fort Sumner (NM)9/27/202315 hJPL REMOTESE of Dawn, Texas, US