Airship Completes US to Japan Flight to Test Sky Cell Tower Concept
An uncrewed airship has completed a round-trip flight from New Mexico to Japan, testing its viability as a stratospheric cell tower.
US aerospace company Sceye has successfully completed a round-trip flight of its stratospheric airship from New Mexico to Japan and back. The month-long journey, conducted between August and September 2026, aimed to demonstrate the capability of a lighter-than-air platform to function as a cellular communication tower in the sky.
The uncrewed platform utilizes helium for buoyancy and an electric propeller for propulsion, allowing it to maintain position and resist winds at approximately 60,000 feet. This altitude places it above most air traffic and jet streams, offering a stable platform for extended operations.
"We can stay over an area of operation, and we do that in the stratosphere right around 60,000 feet, so we're twice as high as air traffic and we're above the jet stream, and yet 30 times closer than low-Earth orbit satellites," said Mikkel Frandsen, founder and CEO of Sceye. "We can fly through day and night until the sun comes up the next morning and recharges the batteries, at which point we're still at the same altitude and still over the same area of operation."
Sceye's technology offers a potential alternative to terrestrial cell towers and low-Earth orbit satellites, particularly for providing connectivity in remote or disaster-stricken areas. This flight marks a significant milestone in the company's efforts to establish airborne communication infrastructure.