Complete list of stratospheric balloon launches by year, ordered chronologically, with flight details, specific payload, images, etc.
Detailed information and launch logs for main balloon launch facilities including balloon bases, airports, and ships around the world.
Ordered chronologically, detailed accounts of many balloon missions containing description of the payloads, details of the flight, pictures, videos and links to external references.
The stories that shaped scientific ballooning. Events and happenings, many of them memorable and epic, some others funny, a few curious or strange and even some tragedies.
Brief overview of those individuals, organizations, programs and events that had contributed to some extent to the development of scientific ballooning.
Remembering important events and dates of scientific ballooning history
In this edition:
Left: The best picture of the Chinese balloon, taken by Frank Melliere above Illinois
Weekly Balloon News is a somewhat regular bulletin containing balloon-related news of what's going on in the field, some speculation (fancy term for "insider data" from sources I can’t reveal), historical images, and details about the new contents that week after week enrich this humble project.
Launched from | In flight since | Payload or experiment | Last known status |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | 3/2/2023 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 620 | PROBABLY STILL IN FLIGHT --> Last known position |
![]() | 12/12/2022 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 614 | The balloon completed 100 days aloft on March 22th, 2023. Currently floating above the Atlantic Ocean near the Gulf of Guinea |
Launch base | Date | Experiment | Flight duration |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | 2023/3/15 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 621 | 2 d 15 h 15 m |
![]() | 2023/3/10 | STRATOLLITE - SCEPTER PERMIAN TEST | 5 h |
![]() | 2023/2/17 | FPS100 - INFRARED TELESCOPE | --- |
![]() | 2023/2/10 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 619 | 1 d 21 h |
![]() | 2023/2/7 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 618 | 2 d 16 h |
![]() | 2023/2/1 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 617 | 3 d 11 h 49 m |
![]() | 2023/1/31 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 616 | 2 d 8 h 49 m |
![]() | 2022/12/21 | SPIDER (Suborbital Polarimeter for Inflation Dust and the Epoch of Reionization) | 16 d 7 h |
![]() | 2022/12/7 | HALO SPACE CAPSULE FLIGHT TEST | 4 h |
![]() | 2022/12/2 | TEST FLIGHT | 1 h 57 m |
![]() | 2022/11/3 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 613 | 17 h |
![]() | 2022/10/30 | SCEYE INFINITY- STRATOSPHERIC AIRSHIP | 4 h 30 m |
![]() | 2022/10/27 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 612 | 29 h |
![]() | 2022/10/20 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 611 | 49 h |
![]() | 2022/10/18 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 609 | 5 d 5 h |
![]() | 2022/10/18 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 610 | 10 d |
![]() | 2022/10/12 | PAYLOAD UNKNOWN | 2 h |
![]() | 2022/10/7 | PAYLOAD UNKNOWN | --- |
![]() | 2022/10/4 | SOLAR CORONAGRAPH | --- |
![]() | 2022/10/2 | SOLAR CELL CALIBRATION | 2 h |
![]() | 2022/9/30 | HEAVY PAYLOAD TEST | 2 h 24 m |
![]() | 2022/9/28 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 608 | ~ 8 d |
![]() | 2022/9/28 | MULTI-INSTRUMENTAL PLATFORM | 12 h 38 m |
![]() | 2022/9/28 | PICTURE-C (Planetary Imaging Concept Testbed Using a Recoverable Experiment - Coronagraph) | 19 h 20 m |
![]() | 2022/9/22 | TINMAN (ThermalIzed Neutron MeAsuremeNt experiment) | 7 h 30 m |
![]() | 2022/9/15 | STRATOLLITE - GRYPHON XXVI | 10 d |
![]() | 2022/9/10 | THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 607 | 1 h |
![]() | 2022/9/8 | HASP 2022 (High Altitude Student Platform) | 21 h 7 m |
![]() | 2022/9/7 | HEMERA ZPB2022 | 11 h 30 m |
![]() | 2022/9/7 | BALBOA (BALloon-Based Observations for sunlit Aurora) | 8 h 45 m |