Stratospheric airship flew from US to Japan to test sky cell tower concept
Tests showed Sceye’s high-flying platform can deliver connectivity in disasters.
Nearly 100 years after the Graf Zeppelin made the first nonstop airship journey across the Pacific, a modern airship has completed a round-trip flight from New Mexico to Japan and back. The purpose of this trans-Pacific flight, which took place between August and September 2026, was not solely about the journey's length but rather to demonstrate the potential of a lighter-than-air platform as a cell phone tower in the sky.
Sceye, a US aerospace company based near Albuquerque, developed this uncrewed platform filled with helium for buoyancy and fitted with an electric-powered propeller for active propulsion. This allows the platform to resist most strong winds and maintain a hovering position over the same location for extended periods. The platform also utilizes top-mounted solar panels and onboard batteries to stay powered round the clock for stratospheric operations.
According to Sceye's founder and CEO, Mikkel Frandsen, the airship operates at an altitude of around 60,000 feet, twice as high as air traffic and 30 times closer to low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling it to stay over an area of operation 24/7.
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