NASA to launch rugby stadium-sized balloons from Wānaka Airport

A super pressure balloon with the EUSO-2 payload is prepared for launch from Wānaka during NASA’s campaign in 2023. Photo: Supplied / NASA / Bill Rodman

This story has been updated to clarify that one balloon would be launched on Thursday

A super pressure balloon, the size of a rugby stadium, will put NASA's technology to the test on Thursday.

Lift-off was scheduled, weather-permitting, for sometime between 9am and 1pm from Wānaka Airport on Wednesday, but postponed at the last minute.

"We are planning to try to launch again tomorrow but we are dependent upon the weather conditions," NASA mission operations manager Christy Hales said.

The flights of the balloon, which is roughly the size of Dunedin's Forsyth-Barr Stadium, is part of NASA's scientific balloon programme.

The heavy-lift balloon will travel the South Hemisphere's mid-latitudes for 100 days or more.

It will carry instruments to take measurements more than 100km above the Earth's surface.

It will help scientists predict changes in the ionosphere, which affected communication and navigation systems, NASA said.

A second balloon would be launched at a later date if the first launch was successful.

The second flight will support several scientific missions, including measuring light and sound waves in the Earth's atmosphere.

The balloon, with a volume of 532,000 cubic metres, would float at an altitude of about 33km, well above the altitude of a commercial plane.

It marked the sixth campaign in New Zealand since 2015, with the most recent being two successful launches in 2023.

Wānaka Airport duty manager Rushlee Smith said NASA approached the airport many years ago and the airport provided the agency a good place to test its technology in the southern regions of the world.

A lot of research went into a successful launch, she said.

"NASA will head out to the pad at around two or three o'clock in the morning, they are looking for a launch time of around nine o'clock, but it can be any where between 7:30am and 12:30pm," Smith said.

"They do have quite a substantial time frame and it's quite fluid for them to be able to finish what they need to, and obviously start inflating that balloon."

It was very exciting for Wānaka's residents, she said.

NASA's balloon programme office chief Gabriel Garde said the agency was also very excited to return for this campaign.

"Our dedicated team, both in the field and at home, has spent years in preparation for this opportunity, and it has been through their hard work, fortitude, and passion that we are back and fully ready for the upcoming campaign."

Parts of SH6 and SH8A would be closed for the launch and access to the airport and roadside parking by the airport would not be permitted.

The balloon would be visible for kilometres around, and the best viewing points would be on the hill on the Hāwea side of the Red Bridge by Kane Road or on the Hāwea Flat side of the Clutha River.

A live feed would also be available.

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