NASA super pressure balloon mission terminated due to anomaly

After a successful launch and more than a day in flight, NASA's second super pressure balloon (SPB) carrying EUSO-2 developed a leak, and flight controllers safely terminated the flight over the Pacific Ocean.

The scientific balloon launched from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, May 13, 12:02 p.m. NZST (May 12, 8:02 p.m EDT). The balloon was in flight for 1 day, 12 hours, and 53 minutes before termination over the Pacific Ocean May 14 at 12:54 UTC (8:54 a.m. EDT). The launch was the second and final for NASA's 2023 New Zealand balloon launch campaign.

During flight, the SPB began experiencing a leak and teams attempted to troubleshot by dropping ballast to maintain the balloon's altitude. The determination was made to safely terminate over the Pacific Ocean. NASA will investigate the cause of the anomaly.

"This is an unfortunate end to the mission and we will investigate the cause to help us continue to improve the super pressure balloon technology," said Debbie Fairbrother, NASA's Scientific Balloon Program chief.