Key facts
- SoftBank Corp. conducted Japan's first trial of a stratospheric communications base station.
- The trial used Sceye's High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS), which flew from the U.S. to Japan.
- Services tested included voice calls, data communications, and an emergency alert system.
- HAPS-to-drone communications and HAPS-based edge computing were also verified.
- Commercialization of HAPS services in Japan is targeted for 2027.
SoftBank Corp. has successfully completed Japan's first trial of a stratospheric communications base station, a High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS), with plans to commercialize the service by 2027. The trials, conducted in collaboration with U.S. aerospace startup Sceye, Inc., utilized Sceye's Lighter Than Air (LTA)-type HAPS.
The Sceye HAPS departed from Roswell, New Mexico, and flew over 15,000 km across the Pacific Ocean to reach Japanese airspace, remaining operational for an extended period off Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture. During the trials, stable voice calls, including emergency calls, and high-capacity data communications like video streaming were confirmed using smartphones.
An emergency alert messaging system designed for large-scale disasters was also successfully verified. Furthermore, the companies validated HAPS-to-drone communications, aiming to establish a three-dimensional communications network, and conducted the world's first technical verification of HAPS-enabled edge computing. This involved processing smartphone communications entirely within the HAPS without routing through a terrestrial network.
SoftBank aims to integrate HAPS with terrestrial networks to provide ubiquitous connectivity, supporting use cases such as disaster communication, bridging the digital divide, and enabling aerial mobility services. This initiative is part of SoftBank's broader vision for Ubiquitous Transformation (UTX).