This is the seventh time the balloon launch has been cancelled this year (Getty Images)

NASA balloon launch in Wanaka cancelled for seventh time

Author: NZN,
Publish Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2017, 8:49AM

NASA's seventh attempt to launch this year's super-pressure balloon from Wanaka has been cancelled.

Saturday morning's planned launch of the balloon, which inflates to about the size of Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium, was cancelled, according to a Facebook post by Wanaka Airport.

More details would be released later, it said.

NASA is hoping the test research balloon will set a record by flying for 100 days at more than 33km above the earth.

It has scheduled the launch of the stadium-sized balloon at the airport seven times in recent weeks but has called each off when weather conditions weren't right.

It's the third year NASA has been in Wanaka to launch a balloon. The first balloon in 2015 achieved 32 days of flight, with 46 days notched up in 2016.