National Aeronautics and Space Administration

 

HASP, a collaborative venture of the NASA Balloon Program Office and Louisiana Space Consortium at Louisiana 

State University, provides a launch platform for a total of 12 

student research payloads and is launched yearly in August/September from the NASA balloon launch facility at Fort Sumner, 

New Mexico. The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) 

provides launch services and support. The project has a rich 

history spanning sixteen years of successful missions providing undergraduate and graduate students with real-world science 

and engineering project development experience. The High 

Altitude Student Platform (HASP) was conceived to provide 

students with flight opportunities on an intermediate platform 

between those available with small latex sounding balloons and 

Earth orbiting satellites. HASP is a support vehicle, based upon 

flight proven hardware and software designs that uses an 11 million cubic foot, thin film polyethylene, helium filled balloon to 

carry multiple student built payloads to altitudes of ~120,000 

feet (~36km) at an ascent rate of 1000 feet per minute, for durations up to 20 hours.

www.nasa.gov

HASP provides undergraduate and graduate students with

real-world science and engineering project development experience.

A Platform Dedicated for Training Future Scientists and Engineers

Characteristic temperatures outside HASP 

during the 2022 flight

A typical altitude vs. time flight profile for HASP 

compared to that of a sounding balloon flight

The HASP payload as configured for 

a typical flight (SIP: Support Instrumentation Package)

The High Altitude Student Platform (HASP)

Camera

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HASP Configuration and System Description

The platform is currently designed to support eight small payloads of ~3 kg weight and four large payloads of ~20 kg weight (i.e. 12 experiment “seats”). A standard interface is provided for each student 

payload that includes power, serial telemetry, discrete commands and analog output. HASP will archive student payload data on-board as well as telemeter the stream to the ground for real-time access. 

The four large payload seats are on the top of the central structure while the eight small payloads are 

mounted on fiberglass outrigger booms. The small payloads may be mounted for nadir pointing. The 

core structure of the platform is a welded aluminum gondola frame with dimensions of 112 cm long, 

91.5 cm wide, 51 cm tall. For flight, HASP is attached to a Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) 

frame which provides support for the CSBF vehicle control equipment and attach points for suspension 

cables, crush pads and the ballast hopper. 

The HASP command and control subsystem provides the means for receiving and processing uplinked 

commands, acquiring and archiving the payload data, downlinking status information and controlling 

the student payloads. There are three primary modules in the subsystem; the Flight Control Unit (FCU) 

which manages communications, the Serial Control Unit (SCU) which provides a serial communication link to each of the individual student payloads, and the Data Archive Unit (DAU), recording inflight data. The primary power source for HASP will be 11 cell lithium battery packs, eight of which will 

supply ~29 to 32 Volts for ~270 Ahr @ +20oC. 

Specifications for the mechanical, electrical and data interface between HASP and a student payload 

are provided in the latest version of the document “HASP – Student Payload Interface Manual” which 

can be obtained from the Participant Information page http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp/Participantinfo.

php or the Technical Documents page http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp/Documentation.php of the HASP 

website.

HASP flight electronics system and student payload interface

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Since 2006, HASP has flown 174 student-built payloads engaging close to 1600 undergraduate and

graduate students. Participating students represented 52 universities and colleges, including minority

serving institutions and community colleges, located across 26 continental U.S. states and territories,

including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. International student teams from Belgium, Canada,

Peru, and United Kingdom have also flown with HASP. We’ve launched 16 HASP flights with a total

float time of 221 hours. The figure below shows the geographical distribution of these student teams.

HASP Flight History

 

Geographic distribution of institutions which have flown payloads on 

HASP, shown in green

Top view of HASP showing a col- lection of small and large payDesktop servicing of the HASP elec- tronics mounting plate

Some students and faculty team 

members with HASP 2022

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For more information on HASP, please contact Doug Granger (hasp@

lsu.edu), Louisiana Space Consortium, 364 Nicholson Hall / Tower Drive, 

Department of Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton 

Rouge, LA 70803-4001.

HASP support is provided by a grant (NASA Grant Number: 80NSSC21K0109) from 

the Astrophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters and 

with support from the Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE) which is part of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. The NASA Balloon Program Office, 

the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, LaSPACE, and HASP Management have, currently, committed to supporting one flight of HASP per year.

NP-2022-9-858-WFF

▶ The High Altitude Student Platform supports advanced 

 student-built payloads

Ŝ Regular schedule of launches once per year

Ŝ Provides high altitude (~36 km) and reasonable duration 

 (~15 to 20 hours)

Ŝ Flight tests student-built satellites

Ŝ Flies payloads too heavy for sounding balloons

▶ Existing flight designs and experience minimize cost of 

 development and operation

Ŝ Flight proven hardware and software

Ŝ Use time-tested CSBF balloon vehicle hardware

Ŝ Capitalize on decades of CSBF experience with flight 

 operations

▶ Could be easily adapted for Long Duration Balloon (LDB) 

 (~15 – 30 days) flights

▶ Could become a major part of aerospace workforce de- 

 velopment

HASP Highlights

Participation and Application Process

Students from all universities are invited to apply for a HASP flight opportunity. Flight opportunities on 

HASP are offered annually in the fall. The application deadlines change slightly from year to year, but typically the Call for Proposal is scheduled to be released at the end of October in the year preceding the HASP 

flight. A Notice of Intent is required for HASP proposals and must be submitted to laspace@lsu.edu in November and a completed application will be due in early January. The NOI and deadline will be preceded

by an informational Q&A teleconference and a Technical Q&A. Final selections for participating payloads 

will be made by the end January. Student teams must provide their own funds for payload development and 

travel to integration and flight operations. Application details, document templates, and other resources 

can be found at the HASP website (http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp/).

HASP payload undergoing 

compatability testing

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