As soon as August, a 200-foot helium-filled aircraft built by New Mexico company Sceye will station itself 18 kilometers above Japan's coast to supplement SoftBank's 5G network, beaming data directly to devices. This is a live commercial test of high-altitude platform stations, or HAPS: solar-powered stratospheric craft that sit far below satellites but cover ground like them.
The stratosphere is the engineering argument. Lower than low-Earth orbit means less signal energy required. But holding position there demands a craft light enough to float, strong enough to carry antennas and solar arrays, and capable of powering itself through the night to fight stratospheric winds. Sceye proved that balance in a 2024 test flight. This spring, it stayed aloft 12 days, flew to Brazil, and parked for 88-plus hours at multiple locations.
Read the full piece for the technical specifics on how Sceye's solar-storage system actually works and why CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen believes HAPS will eventually fill the coverage gap satellite operators leave over dense urban areas. The Japan test in August is the first real proof point.
[READ ORIGINAL →]