Latest News

Oct 2023

New XL-Calibur launch window
The new XL-Calibur launch window from Kiruna, Sweden, is set from May 7 to July 15 2024.

Oct 2022

Update on the XL-Calibur Jul 2022 flight
the 6-day long flight had to contend with an accidental drop of the entire flight ballast at one side of the gondola, leading to 3.5 days of recovery operations without science observations. Furthermore, a mirror alignment error prevented the observations of the X-ray targets in the remaining time.

12 Jul 2022

Successful XL-CALIBUR launch
XL-CALIBUR was launched in the early morning hours of 12 July 2022 (local time) from Esrange under excellent launch conditions. The balloon carried the payload to 130,000 feet altitude until the mission was terminated over northern Canada on July 18, 2022.

30 Jun 2022

XL-CALIBUR launch attempt #2
XL-CALIBUR planned launch early 1 July 2022 scrubbed due to wind conditions. Next planned launch attempt 2 July 2022 (early morning local time)

24 Jun 2022

XL-CALIBUR launch scrubbed
The payload was rigged for flight, but weather conditions prevented the planned launch.