By Shubhangi Chowdhury
U.S.-based startup Sceye has raised $15 million from Japan’s SoftBank Corp. to support its mission of using high-altitude platforms to monitor climate data and expand connectivity in remote areas.
“SoftBank has an extensive track record in non-terrestrial network technologies and has long viewed the stratosphere as the next frontier to tackle pressing global issues. Their investment reinforces the viability of our HAPS platform. We are proud to welcome SoftBank as a strategic partner and look forward to accelerating the commercialization of our services together,” said Sceye CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen.
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As part of the deal, SoftBank has secured exclusive rights to use Sceye’s high-altitude platform (HAPS) technology in Japan. With the new funding and partnership in place, Sceye plans to fly one of its stratospheric platforms to Japan next year. It will provide broadband service there for several weeks before returning to its base in New Mexico. This test run will be one of the final steps before the company officially launches its product, said Frandsen.
Sceye’s LTA-type HAPS platform would enable SoftBank to facilitate communication recovery during disruptions due to large-scale disasters like earthquake, and deliver connectivity to hard-to-reach areas, including mountainous regions and remote islands.
Aerospace company Sceye is focused on using high-altitude platforms (HAPS) to help connect people and protect the environment. Its helium-powered platforms can stay in the stratosphere for long periods, acting almost like floating satellites. After more than 20 successful test flights, Sceye is now working with U.S. state governments and private companies.
The aerospace venture aims to provide connectivity to underserved areas, enable real-time detection, support advanced environmental monitoring and response to weather-related disasters.
SoftBank has been working on satellite-like connectivity services since 2017, according to company president Junichi Miyakawa. “The stratospheric-based, wide area telecommunications of HAPS will play a key role in expanding network area coverage to areas that are difficult to reach with existing mobile network infrastructure, and it will also provide a means of restoring communications when large-scale disasters strike,” said Miyakawa.
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The Japanese conglomerate hopes to use HAPS technology to help build the next generation of telecom networks with a 3D structure. The goal is to deliver strong, reliable connections not just for regular users, but also for drones and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) as we move toward the 6G era. This system could also play a crucial role during major disasters, keeping communication up and running when ground networks go down.
SoftBank plans to roll out pre-commercial HAPS-based telecom services in the country by 2026.