Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base

Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base A partnership between City of Timmins, Canadian Space Agency and Centre National d’Études Spatiales A launch base was then built and is ready to be used.
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In 2011, through a Franco-Canadian collaboration, the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Balloon Program, known as STRATOS, was created. This initiative provides Canadian scientists and engineers with access to a new platform with which to test technologies and advance space science. The CSA and the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) selected the City of Timmins, Ontario, to be the site for a ne

w mid-latitude base for the launch of stratospheric balloons. This base also gives the Canadian university community and industrial firms access to the CNES’s worldwide network of regular and frequent stratospheric balloon flight opportunities. The City of Timmins was selected in March 2012 as the Canadian stratospheric balloon launch site because of its favourable latitude, wind and weather conditions, low population density in key areas surrounding the city, and its optimal on-site infrastructure. It was the top pick in Canada for meeting the strict regulations governing high-altitude balloon launches and recovery. The Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base includes three buildings. The first is used by the teams of research scientists and engineers to prepare the scientific experiments that will be taken up into the stratosphere. The second building is used by the operational teams that prepare, launch, pilot and recover the stratospheric balloons. It includes an assembly hall, an electronics lab for the flight equipment, and an operations control room. The third building is used to shelter the specialized equipment from the weather between launches. One of the responsibilities of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) during balloon launch campaigns is the recovery of stratospheric balloons. When a balloon mission is completed, an appropriate landing site complying with safety and mission assurance regulations is identified. The order is issued from the ground (radio control) to separate the flight chain from the envelope. The descent of the two flight components is monitored in real time until they hit the ground. The landing site GPS coordinates are sent to the recovery team, which is waiting in a predetermined location. This team usually consists of CSA employees and a group of forest rangers who are familiar with the area. A helicopter, capable of lifting heavy loads, assists the team. The rangers board the helicopter and fly close to the balloon landing site. Once obstacles and debris are cleared, the helicopter is able to recover the envelope and the flight chain and transport them to a truck waiting on a road near the landing site. The aerostat components are loaded onto the truck, which then returns to the base in Timmins.

When a campaign is over the base empties out in a hurry .... It gets lonesome 🥹
09/16/2025

When a campaign is over the base empties out in a hurry .... It gets lonesome 🥹

And the "fish" has been deployed for the fourth and final launch of the Strato-Science 2025 campaign. Scheduled launch ...
09/02/2025

And the "fish" has been deployed for the fourth and final launch of the Strato-Science 2025 campaign. Scheduled launch at 0800hrs local time.

Drying out a parachute from NIMBUS-3
09/01/2025

Drying out a parachute from NIMBUS-3

08/31/2025

** NOTICE **
The NIMBUS4 flight is scheduled for 8:00am Tuesday, not 8:00pm as previously published. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

08/31/2025

The fourth and final ZPB flight of the Strato-Science 2025 campaign will be CNES - LOWSTRAT (NIMBUS4) with a payload of approximately 111kg. This night-day flight will rise to a ceiling of about 66,000 feet and carry experiments including Radar, Lidar808, StratoPart and Radiometre.

Launch for the proposed 15-hour flight is currently scheduled for Tuesday September 2 at 8:00am EST.

The NIMBUS3 gondola is back at the base but it had a rough flight. The flight had to be terminated early because it was ...
08/31/2025

The NIMBUS3 gondola is back at the base but it had a rough flight. The flight had to be terminated early because it was getting too close to a high population density area. It landed close to Sudbury ON, in a lake and when the recovery team arrived it was submerged, upside down under several feet of water, not ideal to say the least !

The recovery team was able to retrieve the gondola and they were back at the base in the early morning hours of August 31. They are headed back to the landing site to recover the envelope.

Attaching the BAX to the gondola
08/29/2025

Attaching the BAX to the gondola

Inflating the BAX ... This will be attached to the gondola preparing for flight.
08/29/2025

Inflating the BAX ... This will be attached to the gondola preparing for flight.

Launch preparations for BVEX are underway !
08/29/2025

Launch preparations for BVEX are underway !

08/29/2025

The third flight of the Strato-Science 2025 campaign will be the CSA - BVEX (NIMBUS3) balloon. This 150,000 cu metre balloon will take the 117kg payload to a planned night flight to a cieling of 110,000 feet for approximately 12 hours. Experiments onboard include BVEX, HABLAN, MaQFly, R3, POET and RIP-M.

Launch time is scheduled to be on Friday August 29 between 9:00pm and 10:00pm

Then at 10:53am NIMBUS2 took flight carrying the CNES-CASOLBA payload 🎈
08/21/2025

Then at 10:53am NIMBUS2 took flight carrying the CNES-CASOLBA payload 🎈

Welcome to the photographic home of David Laneville ... I will be adding my photos here over the course of time and I hope that you find something that interests you or better yet, find a photo that you really like .... Have fun browsing and please fell free to send me a message if the mood strikes....

It's been a busy day at the base today, 2 launches !!First launch was at 10:00 am with SEB-6 !
08/21/2025

It's been a busy day at the base today, 2 launches !!

First launch was at 10:00 am with SEB-6 !

Welcome to the photographic home of David Laneville ... I will be adding my photos here over the course of time and I hope that you find something that interests you or better yet, find a photo that you really like .... Have fun browsing and please fell free to send me a message if the mood strikes....

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4599 Airport Road
Timmins, ON

Telephone

+17053608706

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