Project Loon, according to wikipedia, was dismantled in 2021. However, there’s a balloon currently over Texas, between Austin and Houstin, HBAL787 identified as a Project Loon balloon. Did someone pump new energy into this project? Alternatively, were the balloons repurposed?
Doing a search for HBAL 787 I found a website that gave a name for the balloon as Thunderhead HBAL 787. Searching for Thunderhead balloons, I found another website for balloons. I sent an inquiry about this balloon there and got this reply:
“Thanks for reaching out!
Project Loon did end in 2021, but Aerostar continues to use the technology we developed as part of that partnership. The majority of high altitude balloons you see flying are Aerostar designed, manufactured, and operated but some of the free ADS-B tracking sites incorrectly attribute the balloons to Project Loon. Good sleuthing! I hope you will continue to follow us online and via social media.
Best,
Anastasia“
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I’ve seen several of these up my way. They seem to turn their ADS-B on/off so I wind up with a bunch of short flight segments rather than one long one. The altitudes are generally above 55,000 ft. Here are the numbers I have seen for each balloon since 5/15.
+----------+----------+
| flight | count(*) |
+----------+----------+
| HBAL717 | 3 |
| HBAL732 | 19 |
| HBAL756 | 11 |
| HBAL787 | 6 |
+----------+----------+
I found a good general resource for balloons. The last two on your list are shown as active there. I wonder if rather than turning ADS-B on/off that perhaps the solar panels are interfering with the signal (so it would change with the orientation of the balloon).
