The CC ballooning initiative has been an integral part of NCSGs portfolio since 2014. Because of this program, several colleges have ballooning design incorporated into their STEM curriculum (one team has even gone on to participate in advanced ballooning national activities). Throughout the 2017-18 academic year, six community college teams (comprised of 51 students and 14 faculty mentors) incorporated the NASA design cycle to design, build, test, and fly a scientific experiment onboard a high altitude balloon payload. Student teams gathered monthly for Skype sessions as a way to monitor progress and ask questions. In April 2018, teams that complete critical design and build phases launched their payloads at a balloon launch and retrieval team competition at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, NC.

A Student Ambassador was selected to serve as a point of contact for their respective team and manage all aspects of the design.