Record-Breaking Transatlantic Hydrogen Balloon Flight Lands in Bastendorf

On the morning of Sunday 7 June 2026, the hydrogen-powered balloon Atlantic Explorer landed in Bastendorf, Luxembourg, completing the first-ever crewed transoceanic flight in an open basket using hydrogen as its sole lifting gas.

The flight, which covered 5,252 km in 70 hours and eleven minutes, was piloted by Bert Padelt (United States), Peter Cuneo (United States) and Alicia Hempleman-Adams (United Kingdom), who were welcomed upon landing by members of Luxembourg’s ballooning community and their colleagues from Metz (France) and Gladbeck (Germany), who had been tracking the flight’s progress as it crossed France overnight.

Local balloonists assisted the crew in packing the balloon and its open basket and handled all local administrative formalities associated with the landing.

"Luxembourg is proud to have been the final chapter of this extraordinary journey," said Claude Weber, local balloonist and President of the Ballooning Commission of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). "Our ballooning community was honoured to welcome the crew and support their safe recovery after such a demanding flight."

A flight of firsts

Atlantic Explorer launched from Presque Isle, Maine (US), on Thursday 4 June, at 07:08 CET. The crew crossed Nova Scotia and Newfoundland before spending approximately 36 hours over the North Atlantic, with no alternative landing site available other than the ocean below.

Flying in an open basket at an average altitude of 4,300 m, the pilots endured sub-zero temperatures and hazardous icing conditions caused by rain freezing on the balloon envelope. They navigated by adjusting altitude to take advantage of favourable air currents, reaching speeds of up to 100 km/h.

The balloon first made landfall in Europe on the Cherbourg Peninsula in France on the evening of Saturday 6 June, coinciding with the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. It then continued eastwards across France overnight before descending into Luxembourg early on Sunday morning, where it touched down at 06:58 UTC.

Record-breaking achievement

Subject to official verification, the flight will be recognised as:

⁃ the first transoceanic balloon flight using hydrogen as the sole lifting gas;

⁃ the longest transoceanic gas balloon flight ever completed;

⁃ the first transatlantic gas balloon crossing by a British woman — Alicia Hempleman-Adams, who becomes only the second woman in history to cross the Atlantic in a gas balloon.

Luxembourg's place in ballooning history

The landing in Bastendorf adds Luxembourg to the map of significant transatlantic ballooning milestones. The Grand Duchy joins a select group of European landing sites that includes Miserey, France, where Double Eagle II completed the first-ever transatlantic balloon flight in 1978.

The Atlantic Explorer crew expressed their gratitude to Luxembourg’s balloonists and their French and German colleagues for their warm welcome and professional assistance. The support team, which included some of Europe’s most experienced gas balloonists, had remained on standby as the balloon made its final approach.

Caption: (L-R) Peter Cuneo; Bert Padelt; Alicia Hempleman-Adams

Credit: Christophe Houver