NASA's scientific balloons offer low-cost, near-space access for scientific payloads in the approximately 1,000-pound or more weight class for conducting scientific investigations in fields such as astrophysics, heliophysics and atmospheric research.
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency's scientific balloon flight program with 10 to 15 flights each year from launch sites worldwide. Orbital ATK, which operates the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, provides program management, mission planning, engineering services and field operations for NASA's scientific balloon program. The Columbia team has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons over more than 35 years of operation.
For more information on the balloon program, see: http://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons