Following the termination of its second and final super pressure balloon (SPB), NASA is celebrating a successful 2025 campaign and a “truly global effort”.

The second SPB of the campaign was safely terminated over Argentina on May 13 more than nine days after it was launched from Wānaka Airport.

The SPB deflated and rapidly floated back to earth while its payload - equipped with a parachute - gently floated back to the ground and landed about 25 nautical miles northwest of Estancia Los Alamos, NASA said.

Although the second SPB performed well and the mission successfully met its minimum requirements toward qualification of the balloon system, an issue with the power system aboard the balloon gondola prompted the team to terminate the mission early as a precaution, NASA flight facility balloon programme office deputy chief Andrew Hamilton said.

The first SPB of the 2025 mission had been terminated after 17 days.

“This mission concludes a successful campaign from our launch site in New Zealand,” Andrew said.

“We are proud of all the hard work the team has put in, and we are grateful to all of our international partners in New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile that made this a success.” 

While the primary goal of the flight was to further test and qualify the SPB technology, the balloon was also carrying several smaller scientific instruments and technology demonstrations, Andrew said. 

“A complex campaign like this involved a myriad of support from organisations around the world,” he said. “Our team at CSBF is the premier balloon launching program, and this campaign showed, once again, how good they are.”

“The Balloon Program Office is fully appreciative of all the support we’ve had from our colleagues in the State Department that assisted with coordination, as well as all our international partners that enabled a successful launch and recovery of the mission. 

“This is truly a global team effort.” 

NASA’s 2025 campaign was the sixth SPB campaign held at Wānaka Airport since the agency began balloon operations here in 2015. 

NASA also held campaigns at Wānaka Airport in 2016, 2017, 2022 and 2023, all of which were successful apart from the 2022 campaign.

PHOTO: NASA