A group of global industry leaders this week announced that they are forming the HAPS Alliance to promote the use of high altitude vehicles in the Earth’s stratosphere.
The HAPS Alliance seeks to create an ecosystem to support next-generation global connectivity needed to revolutionize the world's mobile networks. Members who have committed to join the HAPS Alliance include SoftBank’s HAPSMobile, Alphabet's Loon, AeroVironment, Airbus Defence and Space, Bharti Airtel, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Intelsat, Nokia, SoftBank, and Telefónica.
The launch of the HAPS Alliance follows a previous April 2019 announcement between HAPSMobile and Loon where the companies formed a strategic alliance to advance the use of high altitude vehicles.
The HAPS Alliance is being created so member companies can collectively advocate for High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business development with the relevant authorities in various countries, build a cooperative HAPS ecosystem, develop common product specifications and promote the standardization of HAPS network interoperability.
High altitude network connectivity platforms operate in the stratosphere, which is above ground infrastructure, but below satellites, allowing for near ubiquitous coverage that avoids ground clutter and significant latency issues. These advantages make such vehicles a promising solution for expanding mobile coverage to areas where connectivity is lacking - such as mountainous terrain, remote islands, marine regions and developing countries—as well as for IoT and 5G use-cases.
Junichi Miyakawa, Representative Director & CTO, SoftBank, and also President & CEO, HAPSMobile
We are very encouraged that many leaders from across the communications and aerospace industries are joining us in our mission to bridge the digital divide with high altitude vehicles.
Alastair Westgarth, CEO, Loon
This HAPS Alliance is an important step forward in building an established industry that will help us realize the promise of the stratosphere to connect people everywhere.
