StratoCat is an independent source of historical data and current news on the development of stratospheric balloons for scientific research, aerospace and military applications, and commercial exploitation of near space.

Balloon launches by year

Complete list of stratospheric balloon launches by year, ordered chronologically, with flight details, specific payload, images, etc.

Balloon launches by base

Detailed information and launch logs for main balloon launch facilities including balloon bases, airports, and ships around the world.

Detailed flight reports

Ordered chronologically, detailed accounts of many balloon missions containing description of the payloads, details of the flight, pictures, videos and links to external references.

Articles

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.

Balloon Encyclopedia

Brief overview of those individuals, organizations, programs and events that had contributed to some extent to the development of scientific ballooning.

On this day...

Remembering every month important events and dates of scientific ballooning history

In this edition:

  • Early end to SuperBIT's balloon flight
  • New capsule tested in tethered ascent
  • Aerostar launches Thunderhead balloon for NASA
  • Other news in brief
  • New contents in StratoCat

Weekly Balloon News # 11 - Chinese balloon edition - March 4th, 2023

Contents:

  • What kind of balloon it was?
  • Not an isolated incident, and not a "fleet" of spy balloons.
  • Previous sightings. Connecting the dots
  • The first downing using missiles? Yes and No
  • The "secret" Chinese balloon base
  • Science on the edge of reality
  • The "weather balloon" explanation 70 years later

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.


Balloons in flight (updated 30-May-2023 - 04:17:51pm)

Launched fromIn flight sincePayload or experimentLast known status
 Hurley (SD)5/24/2023THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 629STILL IN FLIGHT --> SEE IN THE MAP
 Hurley (SD)5/3/2023THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 628STILL IN FLIGHT --> SEE IN THE MAP
 Indiantown (FL)3/2/2023THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 620The balloon completed 62 days aloft on May 3th, 2023. Currently floating above the Atlantic Ocean near the Gulf of Guinea

Last completed balloon flights (updated 30-May-2023 - 04:17:51pm)

Launch baseDateExperimentFlight duration
 Roswell (NM)2023/5/17SCEYE INFINITY- STRATOSPHERIC AIRSHIP2 h 30 m
 Wanaka2023/5/13EUSO-SPB2 (Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super-Pressure Balloon 2)44 h
 Tillamook (OR)2023/5/12PAYLOAD UNKNOWN1 h 40 m
 Alice Springs2023/5/12SRC (Sample Return Capsule)3 h
 Alice Springs2023/4/29GRAINE (Gamma-Ray Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion)26 h 45 m
 Florence (AZ)2023/4/12THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6274 d 20 h
 Buckeye (AZ)2023/4/10THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6263 h
 Buckeye (AZ)2023/4/9THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6257 d 22 h 20 m
 Buckeye (AZ)2023/4/8THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6248 d 22 h
 Hurley (SD)2023/4/3THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6239 h
 Waimea (HI)2023/3/31STRATOLLITE - HAWAIIAN TEST #2~ 15 h
 Hurley (SD)2023/3/29THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6228 h
 Waimea (HI)2023/3/27STRATOLLITE - HAWAIIAN TEST #1~ 15 h
 Madras Muni. (OR)2023/3/18PAYLOAD UNKNOWN~ 2 h
 Hurley (SD)2023/3/15THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6212 d 15 h 15 m
 Fabens (TX)2023/3/10STRATOLLITE - SCEPTER PERMIAN TEST5 h
 TIFR Hyderabad2023/2/17FPS100 - INFRARED TELESCOPE---
 Raven campus, Baltic (SD)2023/2/10THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6191 d 21 h
 Raven campus, Baltic (SD)2023/2/7THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6182 d 16 h
 Santa Fe County (NM)2023/2/1THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6173 d 11 h 49 m
 Santa Fe County (NM)2023/1/31THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6162 d 8 h 49 m
 McMurdo2022/12/21SPIDER (Suborbital Polarimeter for Inflation Dust and the Epoch of Reionization)16 d 7 h
 TIFR Hyderabad2022/12/7HALO SPACE CAPSULE FLIGHT TEST4 h
 Spaceport Tucson (AZ)2022/12/2TEST FLIGHT1 h 57 m
 Paso Robles (CA)2022/11/3THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 61317 h
 Roswell (NM)2022/10/30SCEYE INFINITY- STRATOSPHERIC AIRSHIP4 h 30 m
 Paso Robles (CA)2022/10/27THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 61229 h
 Raven campus, Baltic (SD)2022/10/20THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 61149 h
 Raven campus, Baltic (SD)2022/10/18THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 6095 d 5 h
 Raven campus, Baltic (SD)2022/10/18THUNDERHEAD FLIGHT 61010 d