StratoCat news archive

Multiple Thunderhead launches over California

8/26/2026.- An unusual and sudden increase in activity has been recorded over the past two days in the south-central region of California, with multiple Thunderhead balloons launched by Aerostar, a company based in South Dakota.

The launches have taken place from the Mojave Air and Space Port, an aerospace test center and flight research facility located in the Mojave Desert.

So far, four balloons have been launched, one of which has already completed its mission, landing near Beveridge, California after 20 hours aloft.

SCEYE's airship arrives Japan for testing

8/22/2026.- After 13 days cruising over the Pacific, Sceye’s stratospheric platform has reached Japan, where it is expected to conduct communications tests with HAPS infrastructure operated by its partner, SoftBank.

The vehicle lifted off from Roswell, New Mexico, on August 9 and crossed the Pacific on a southbound route rather than a straight-line path to avoid Hurricane Lala, eventually reaching southern Japan.

The mission will include tests of flight performance and aerial communications, as well as an assessment of potential interference with surrounding ground-based communication networks under Japanese weather conditions.

BEXUS 36 student mission launched from ESRANGE

8/21/2026.- BEXUS mission 36 was launched yesterday from ESRANGE on a four-hour flight that ended just a few miles from the base. The balloon carried six experiments developed by students from Sweden, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the UK.

The unusually early flight date—BEXUS missions are normally flown in October—was due to this being a reflight of last year’s mission. During the 2025 campaign, the balloon failed shortly after launch, leaving the experiments, and the students’ hopes, on the ground. The experiments covered communications, photovoltaics, gamma-ray studies, and the deployment of a solar sail intended for a CubeSat.

NASA's Fall balloon campaign starting

8/14/2026.- As every fall, NASA will conduct a balloon launch campaign from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. This year’s schedule includes six flights beginning in mid-August. The main scientific mission is CORSAIR (Coronal Spectropolarimeter for Airborne Infrared Research), designed to study the solar corona.

The campaign will also feature the HASP multi-experiment student platform, marking its 20th anniversary flying on NASA balloons; the Balloon Program Office’s Balloon Optimization Opportunity Payload (BOOP!); and three additional multi-payload flights to test new technologies for balloon-borne research.

Aerostar's balloons over Colombia after earthquake

8/12/2026.- All kinds of conspiracy theories have emerged following the appearance of two Aerostar Thunderhead balloons over Colombia, shortly after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake affected parts of the country. However, those same balloons had already been entering and leaving Colombian airspace in the preceding days as part of their participation in the PANAMAX 2026 military exercise.

It remains unclear whether their sustained presence over Colombia after the earthquake is in any way connected to monitoring or assessment activities related to the disaster.

Official logo for CNES Brazilian balloon campaign

8/5/2026.- Equatoria is the name of an upcoming balloon campaign to be conducted in Brazil by the French Space Agency (CNES). The program will take place in two phases: the first during the dry season, around September 2027, and the second during the rainy season, around February 2028.

Operations will be based at the Balloon Launch Base currently under construction near Palmas, in the state of Tocantins. The facility is being developed through a partnership involving the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), CNES, and the Federal University of Tocantins, and is expected to support future scientific balloon campaigns in equatorial regions.