Newcastle High School Students Launch Weather Balloons from Outback NSW

A group of high school students from Newcastle have successfully launched two self-made high-altitude weather balloons from outback NSW.

The year 10 students, who are part of a STEM teaching unit at the Hunter School of Performing Arts, built two balloons to gather data from the Earth's atmosphere.

Twenty-one engineering students took part in the launch at a high school in Cobar on Wednesday.

"The reason we came all the way out to Cobar is we want to prevent [the balloons] from landing in the ocean or trees," said student Hart van de Wijgaart.

"It made it easier to retrieve."

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The balloons were made to travel 35 kilometres above the Earth, before bursting and gently returning to the ground with a parachute.

One of the balloon strings broke early and landed 40km north of Tottenham.

However, the second balloon made it to an altitude of 35km and landed 250km away from the original launch spot, at a citrus farm in Narromine.

Five-year-old Ezra Roberts, who lives on the orange farm with his parents, helped retrieve the balloon on Friday.

"I was riding my bike over to my dad and we found the box," Ezra said.

Passion project

Each balloon weighed 3 kilograms and was made from degradable latex.

It was attached to a box that carried a tracker, as well as equipment that collected data such as temperature, speed, location, humidity and pressure.

Some students also added personal trinkets.

"If we look at the website, we can see the altitude, longitude and where to find it on the map," Hart said.

The students raised $15,000 to financially cover the trip and materials.

Charlie Buchanan was part of the media team for the project.

"I thought the idea of us working as a class to create this one big project sounded awesome," she said.

"The fact we get to design and create this whole thing sounded really cool."

Second time's a charm

It is not the first time the students have sent a weather balloon into the atmosphere.

The first balloon was launched in Nyngan in 2024 with then-school captain Nolan Sobel-Read, and travelled to an altitude of 28 kilometres.

According to the World Air Sports Federation, space officially begins about 100 kilometres above sea level at the Karman line, although there have been studies published that suggest space may start at 80 kilometres altitude.

Teacher Ben Moore said he had enjoyed the project so much he decided to repeat it with a bigger group.

"We were just really thrilled by the whole experience. We just had to bring it back and bigger," he said.

"It brings me a lot of pride and joy to see these guys put in all the hard work and see where the adventure takes us."