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CASEY, Ill. · September 24, 2026Aerostratospheric, an Illinois nonprofit with its corporate office at 801 S West St, Suite 101, Olney, IL 62450, today announced plans to add a lux meter (light-level sensor) and early-warning lightning detection at its Casey, Illinois ground station. Both additions are in the pipeline and are not yet installed.
Flight safety is the first reason for the plan. Aerostratospheric does not fill or launch helium balloons when lightning is in the area. Early lightning awareness is intended to help protect the crew, the balloon, and the payload, and to support go/no-go decisions on the day of a private science launch.
Community benefit is the second reason. Early lightning warnings from the Casey station, once the planned system is in place, can help outdoor events, farmers and field work, schools and youth sports, and residents. Planned light-level and lightning observations are intended to feed into open ground data on xDataHub alongside existing Casey feeds. The Casey station already reports into Weather Underground as KILCASEY47, and air temperatures from the site are also submitted through the NASA GLOBE API (Casey site GO-4VW9B). xDataHub also carries the Aerostratospheric radiation index for Casey and UOGW (Unified Open Global Weather) views.
"We are planning a lux meter and early-warning lightning detection at Casey so our team has clearer day-of context for private launch decisions, and so neighbors can benefit from the open ground data we already publish," said Adam Wilson, Chief of Staff.
Local emergency management, schools, and weather groups interested in sharing data may book a short collaboration conversation at https://calendly.com/aerostratospheric/15min.
Media and collaboration links:
https://www.midwestsds.com/msds-data-hub.html
https://www.midwestsds.com/about.html
https://www.midwestsds.com/press.html
https://www.aerostratospheric.com/
https://calendly.com/aerostratospheric/15min
About Aerostratospheric
Aerostratospheric is an Illinois nonprofit corporation. The organization designs, builds, and flies lightweight high-altitude payload science platforms under FAA Part 101 and publishes open atmospheric observations through UOGW (Unified Open Global Weather) for research, education, and public reuse. Midwest Stratospheric Data Systems operates as a limited partnership under Aerostratospheric. Corporate office: 801 S West St, Suite 101, Olney, IL 62450. Launch operations: Casey, Illinois. Web: https://www.aerostratospheric.com/ and https://www.midwestsds.com/
Media contact:
Elena Vargas, Press and Communications
elena@midwestsds.com
https://www.midwestsds.com/press.html
Collaboration scheduling: https://calendly.com/aerostratospheric/15min
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