The dream of providing internet service and telecommunications across the globe, to the remotest areas, is one that has been pursued by high tech thought leaders all over the world. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg dreamed of it with the Aquila project, quietly shelved after a test flight in 2017. Airbus’ Zephyr drone has flown for over 25 days in a test flight in Arizona. Now, HAPSMobile will fly the HAWK30 in restricted airspace over Edwards Air Force Base, with approval from both the FAA and NASA’s Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review board.
“HAPSMobile Inc. (“HAPSMobile”), a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and minority-owned by AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), has received a limited flight release from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC), Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review Board to conduct a test flight of the HAWK30 aircraft in restricted airspace. AFRC is responsible to ensure ground and range safety for the HAWK30 aircraft during this flight test series,” says a press release.”
With this approval, HAPSMobile plans to conduct its first test flight of the HAWK30, a solar-powered unmanned aircraft to provide a stratospheric telecommunications platform system.”
The potential for high altitude solar powered drones is significant. Depending on payload, they could be used for multiple purposes: but providing telecommunications to all areas of the globe is a significant and potentially world-changing goal.
Junichi Miyakawa, Representative Director & CTO of SoftBank Corp., and also President & CEO of HAPSMobile Inc., said, “We are extremely pleased to receive NASA’s official test flight approval, which will enable us to take a major step forward to commercially use the stratosphere. We will conduct a test flight rapidly at AFRC so we can prepare for stratospheric test flights in Lanai. We will continue to work toward our goal of bridging the world’s digital divide and revolutionizing mobile networks by leveraging HAPS.”
About HAPSMobile
HAPSMobile Inc. is a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO:9434) that plans and operates a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business with the aim of bridging the world’s digital divide. HAPSMobile is primarily engaged in network equipment research and development for the HAPS business, construction of core networks, new business planning and activities for spectrum usage. AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) is HAPSMobile’s minority owner and aircraft development partner for “HAWK30,” a solar-powered unmanned aircraft designed for stratospheric telecommunications platform systems. HAPSMobile has a strategic relationship with Loon, a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. For more information, please visit https://www.hapsmobile.com.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker
Subscribe to DroneLife here.
[…] Source link […]