Swiss space company Sceye performed a successful test flight on Oct. 30 from New Mexico, deploying a platform that provided internet connectivity.
The company's test demonstrated that its high-altitude platform station (HAPS) carrying a 4G antenna can connect to devices on the ground. The company says its tech can provide internet connectivity and monitor greenhouse gas emissions.
The launch was part of Sceye’s testing plan to demonstrate the feasibility of bringing high-speed internet services to unserved and underserved populations, such as the Navajo Nation. Its clients include the state economic development department and a consortium of telecom carriers, a news release from Sceye said.
“We’ve reached another milestone in proving broadband internet connectivity is possible from the stratosphere,” Sceye CEO and Founder Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen said in a prepared statement. “And with the connectivity achieved today, we’re confident we can use our altitude and long range to expand broadband coverage to the underserved.”
The company claims that its technologies can cover areas as large as 27,000 square miles with high-speed broadband.
Sceye was founded in 2014. Last year, the state announced that Sceye planned to expand in New Mexico. The expansion was to include a manufacturing operation to build airships capable of delivering broadband and an anticipated 140 manufacturing and engineering jobs.
As part of the project, the New Mexico Economic Development Department pledged up to $5 million in Local Economic Development Act funding. Currently, Sceye has operations in Moriarty and Lausanne, Switzerland.
