Ham radio convention launches balloon more than 21 miles above Sedalia

Published 5:28 am Thursday, October 15, 2026

A high-altitude balloon launched from the Missouri State Fairgrounds on Saturday, Oct. 10, climbed more than 110,000 feet into the atmosphere before bursting and deploying a parachute, sending its payload drifting into Cooper County, where it remains suspended in a tree about 75 feet above the ground.

Bret Kuhns, president of the Sedalia-Pettis Amateur Radio Club and chairman of the event, said the balloon launch was part of the American Radio Relay League Midwest Division Convention hosted by the club Oct. 9-10 at the fairgrounds.

The convention brought together amateur radio enthusiasts from Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas to share their interest in ham radio and its applications.

On Friday, Oct. 9, the club operated a special event station that made more than 100 contacts across the United States in five hours, Kuhns said.

The following morning, the club partnered with the Civil Air Patrol and the University of Missouri’s Missouri S&T campus in Rolla to coordinate the balloon launch.

The balloon lifted off from the parking lot near the Mathewson Exhibition Center at approximately 10 a.m. Saturday. It reached an altitude of 110,586 feet in about an hour, Kuhns said.

A typical commercial airliner flies at about 30,000 to 40,000 feet, putting the balloon’s peak altitude at more than twice that height and approximately 21 miles above the ground.

“We maximized the capacity of helium in the balloon because we certainly wanted to burst as soon as possible,” Kuhns said. “We don’t want it to get too high or drift too far, because then that makes the retrieval a lot harder.”

As the balloon climbed, its tracking equipment allowed organizers to monitor its altitude and movement. At times, the balloon traveled horizontally at about 24 mph while continuing to ascend rapidly.

When it reached its maximum altitude, the balloon burst and deployed a parachute. The payload descended into Pettis County before drifting across the county line into Cooper County.

Civil Air Patrol cadets have located the payload in a tree near Pilot Grove, Kuhns said. Organizers were working on arrangements to retrieve it.

The payload included a camera, multiple tracking devices and experimental projects assembled by Civil Air Patrol cadets. The experiments are intended to help the cadets study how extreme altitude and cold temperatures affect different materials and objects.

Kuhns said he did not yet know precisely what experiments the cadets included this year because the payload had not been recovered.

Last year, the cadets sent yeast aloft to examine whether it retained the same properties after exposure to the high-altitude environment.

The launch also provided an opportunity for amateur radio operators to put their tracking skills to use.

Club members used directional antennas and mobile radios to help follow the balloon and determine where it landed. Three different types of tracking devices were included as backups to improve the chances of recovering the payload.

The equipment faces difficult conditions at extreme altitude, including temperatures well below freezing, Kuhns said. The tracking devices are also expensive, making recovery important to the club.

“It’s successful with the launch,” Kuhns said. “But it’s, I wouldn’t call it a fully successful event until we retrieve the payload.”

In addition to the tracking equipment, organizers want to return the Civil Air Patrol cadets’ experiments so they can examine the results.

The club plans to share photographs and a summary of the launch and recovery on its Spark-Con Facebook page as more information becomes available.

For Kuhns and the participating organizations, the launch demonstrated the technical capabilities of amateur radio while giving the cadets a chance to conduct experiments in an environment far beyond ordinary reach.

The balloon reached its intended altitude and its tracking systems helped organizers locate the payload. The remaining challenge is bringing the equipment safely back to the ground.

Kuhns thanked the team of over 30 people for their help in the launch and hopeful recovery.

Chris Howell can be reached at 660-530-0146