Dynamics model of the stratospheric airship during floating was established, and the model was linearized using linear perturbation theory based on the assumption which the flight altitude is constant. A flexible leaderfollower formation control method for stratospheric airships based on path following was proposed, in which the leader and followers track the reference trajectory respectively through velocity and heading control. Linear formation and circular control of three stratospheric airships were simulated and the simulation results show that the control accuracy of the path following method is high while the formation can operate stably, and the collision among airships can be avoided.