September 2025
- Project kickoff completed.
- Requirements and success criteria defined.
- First hardware purchases completed.
Schedule and Milestones
Program timeline from kickoff through the third launch campaign.
Reviews and launches are tracked against fixed milestones to keep mission risk and readiness visible for all teams and sponsors.
October 2025
- Preliminary Design Review: October 4, 2025.
- Critical Design Review: October 18, 2025.
- Flight Readiness Review: October 30, 2025.
November 2025
- First Launch: November 1, 2025.
- Post-Flight Review: November 5, 2025.
2026 Operations
- Launch #2 completed on January 11, 2026.
- Launch #3 completed on March 22, 2026.
- Post-flight review and retry planning are now in progress.
Milestone Table
| Milestone | Date | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Project Kickoff | September 2025 | Define mission goals, requirements, and procurement plan. |
| PDR | October 4, 2025 | Review preliminary architecture and technical trades. |
| CDR | October 18, 2025 | Lock design and approve build for launch integration. |
| FRR | October 30, 2025 | Confirm launch readiness, safety, and operations coverage. |
| Launch #1 | November 1, 2025 | Execute first mission and gather baseline flight data. |
| Post-Flight Review | November 5, 2025 | Capture lessons learned and feed forward to next design. |
| Launch #2 | January 11, 2026 | Validate reliability upgrades and longer mission profile. |
| Launch #3 | March 22, 2026 | Execute the third launch campaign with four successful balloon releases across three bands. |