Hispasat And Thales Alenia Space Team Up On Stratospheric Balloon Demonstration For 4g/5g Telecom Applications
- Both companies will carry out tests to connect directly the payload embarked in the balloon with a smartphone in the ground.
- Zero 2 Infinity will provide the balloon in this demonstration, while Thales Alenia Space is developing the future full – scale stratospheric airship.
Cannes, September 11, 2018 – Hispasat, the Spanish satellite communications operator, and Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33 %), announced today that they are jointly preparing a stratospheric balloon demonstration for 4G/5G telecom applications. Scheduled for October 2018 in southern Spain, the demonstration will test 4G/5G applications by allowing direct communications between smartphones and a High-Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) – a stratospheric balloon in this case.
To match the early interest of Hispasat for the innovative market of HAPS, Thales Alenia Space, serving as prime contractor for this demonstration and offering its payload expertise of 4G/5G telecommunication missions, is teaming up with Spanish company Zero 2 Infinity, S.L., which will provide the stratospheric balloon, while Thales Alenia Space is developing the future full-scale stratospheric airship, Stratobus.
“Reflecting our ongoing policy of developing innovative solutions to address our customers’ needs, we are continuing to study the vast possibilities offered by stratospheric platforms as a complement to geostationary satellites,” said Hispasat CEO Carlos Espinos. “Stratospheric solutions offer greater operational flexibility and agility, enabling us to immediately meet communications and connectivity needs with an infrastructure that provides a huge broadband with a minimum delay, while avoiding all technical and economical limitations derived from a rocket launch. Moreover, this solution entails a smaller environmental footprint than satellites, which is an additional advantage. We take a keen interest in the solution offered by Thales Alenia Space, and it’s ideas like this that keep us at the forefront of space. We are delighted to collaborate with our long-standing partner on such a promising project.”
Jean Loic Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space, added: “Thales Alenia Space is taking an incremental approach to this program with Hispasat. We are proud to have earned Hispasat’s trust in our dedicated HAPS solution, namely Stratobus™ – a stratospheric airship that combines the best of drones and satellites to provide a low-cost system that offers autonomous operation and permanent regional coverage, while offering an excellent fit with satellite systems. StratobusTM is designed for a wide range of civil or military applications, including telecommunications, navigation and surveillance. Its position in the stratosphere at an attitude of 20 kilometers is optimal for 4G and 5G telecommunications, with signals sent directly to the end-user’s smartphone in just milliseconds.
