Aerostratospheric Directs Hello Skip Funding to Lightning Detection Hardware for Its Casey, Illinois Ground Weather Station

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aerostratospheric Directs Hello Skip Funding to Lightning Detection Hardware for Its Casey, Illinois Ground Weather Station

Ecowitt WH57 lightning detector and GW1200 gateway expand the fixed station that shares observations with NOAA through CWOP

CASEY, Ill. (Oct. 13, 2026) – Olney, Illinois-based Aerostratospheric is expanding the equipment at its fixed ground weather station, supported in part by the grant Hello Skip awarded Aerostratospheric in September 2026 through its business instant grants. The expansion adds lightning detection equipment to the site in Casey, Illinois. An Ecowitt WH57 lightning detector and an Ecowitt GW1200 gateway have been purchased and will be installed at the station.

The Casey station shares observations with NOAA through CWOP (the Citizen Weather Observer Program) under callsign KE9CFY, and it also reports to Weather Underground as KILCASEY47. The WH57 is the sensor, and the GW1200 is the gateway that connects it to the station's data stream.

Lightning awareness adds day-of context for Aerostratospheric's go/no-go weather decisions at its Casey launch site, and the team intends to add lightning observations to the open ground data from its own station that it already publishes on xDataHub at https://www.midwestsds.com/msds-data-hub.html.

"We received the grant, and I spoke with Ryder from Hello Skip to let him know how thankful Aerostratospheric was and how the funding directly supports our mission," said Jeremy David Higgs, President of Aerostratospheric.

Hello Skip is a platform that helps founders and small business owners find funding and grow their businesses. More at https://www.helloskip.com/ Hello Skip does not endorse Aerostratospheric's products or research.

Researchers, educators, and local weather groups interested in the Casey data can reach Aerostratospheric at space@aerostratospheric.com or book a 15-minute call at https://calendly.com/aerostratospheric/15min.

About Aerostratospheric
Olney, Illinois-based Aerostratospheric designs, builds, and flies lightweight high-altitude payload science platforms and publishes open atmospheric data for research, education, and public use. Science flights are conducted under FAA Part 101. Corporate office: 801 S. West Street, Suite 101, Olney, IL 62450. Launch operations and the ground weather station: Casey, Illinois. Web: https://www.aerostratospheric.com/

Media contact
Aerostratospheric
space@aerostratospheric.com
(603) 600-AERO

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