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Atlantic Explorer 2026 Flight Control: Peter Cuneo, Balloon Museum Foundation Member is Making History

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June 3, 2026 by Kim Vesely

Peter Cuneo, board member with the Balloon Museum Foundation is actively traveling across the Atlantic Ocean with his Atlantic Explorer team.

Image of Peter Cuneo

Peter Cuneo, board member with the Balloon Museum Foundation. Read Peter's bio and the bios of his teammates at: Atlantic-Explorer.com.

The adventure begins tonight!  Three balloonists attempting to make the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean with a balloon using hydrogen gas for lift are readying their craft for flight in Presque Isle, ME.  They anticipate launching at approximately 10:00 PM EDT (8:00 PM MDT / 0200 UTC).  Their flight aboard the Atlantic Explorer to Europe is expected to take six days, during which the pilots will live in the open air in an aluminum frame basket smaller than most closets.  There is no respite until they reach Europe – once clear of Newfoundland, their only place to land is in the open ocean.

Pennsylvania balloonists Bert Padelt and his friends and fellow aeronauts Peter Cuneo and Alicia Hempleman-Adams will attempt to become the first balloonists to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open basket gas balloon using hydrogen for lift. To succeed, the team will have to use the winds at different altitudes to gain the speed and trajectory they need to reach Europe while avoiding any storms that might develop along the way.  It is so difficult that successful crossings of the Atlantic by balloon are rare: there have been only 19 in the 140-year history of balloon flight.  If successful, the Atlantic Explorer will be the first ever with a balloon using hydrogen gas as its sole onboard source of lift.

For a successful crossing the team is seeking calm conditions at the Presque Isle launch site, fast winds and storm-free conditions for the Atlantic transit, and light to moderate winds for the landing in Europe.  Over the past several days, fast winds have developed over the Atlantic with the speed and trajectory the team has been seeking.  The flight’s meteorologists and Flight Control team have determined that a Wednesday evening time offers the best opportunity for the balloon to maneuver into the best position to catch the favorable winds across the Atlantic.  The crossing is estimated to take 4-6 days.

Although the flight could result in setting world records for their size and type balloon, it is a highly personal challenge for a seasoned team which includes members from both sides of the Atlantic.  Pilots Padelt and Cuneo are Americans (Padelt from Pennsylvania and Cuneo from New Mexico), and Hempleman-Adams hails from Great Britain.  The Flight Control team is primarily based in Britain, and the team’s meteorologists, press officer, and many of the technical experts are based in the United States. 

For further information and live tracking of the balloon’s progress during the flight visit:

Note:  The Atlantic Explorer 2026 team will be updating their Facebook page and website as the flight progresses, with the hope to provide periodic video updates from the pilots during the flight (these will be posted on the two platforms listed above as they are received).