This flying solar-powered platform could deliver better internet from the air

这种太阳能飞行平台有望从空中提供更好的互联网服务

As soon as August, a giant silver bullet will cut its way through the dry air of the southwestern US and cross the Pacific to reach the coast of Japan. Once there, the roughly 200-foot-long craft, built by the New Mexico–based company Sceye, will park some 18 kilometers above the ocean’s surface, in a wispy-thin layer known as the stratosphere. 最早在今年八月，一个巨大的银色“子弹”将划破美国西南部干燥的空气，横跨太平洋抵达日本海岸。抵达后，这艘由总部位于新墨西哥州的 Sceye 公司制造、长约 200 英尺（约 61 米）的飞行器，将停留在海平面上方约 18 公里处，即平流层这一稀薄的大气层中。

Then it will use a custom-built antenna to supplement Softbank’s 5G network, a test that will include beaming data straight to devices. Sceye (pronounced “sky”) is one of several firms building a class of airborne craft called HAPS, or high-altitude platform stations or systems. Such a platform can be a plane or a balloon or, yes, an oblong craft filled with helium and outfitted with solar panels. 届时，它将利用定制天线来补充软银（Softbank）的 5G 网络，测试内容包括直接向设备传输数据。Sceye（发音同“sky”）是多家致力于研发 HAPS（高空平台站或系统）的飞行器公司之一。这种平台可以是飞机、气球，或者像这样充入氦气并配备太阳能电池板的椭圆形飞行器。

HAPS companies, including the Airbus subsidiary Aalto, envision them serving a variety of lofty purposes, such as delivering internet service to disaster sites and observing Earth’s surface. The stratosphere is a good place to be if you want to cover a large area. It’s also much closer to the ground than even the lowest-orbiting satellites, which means sending down a signal takes far less energy. 包括空客子公司 Aalto 在内的 HAPS 公司设想，它们可以服务于多种崇高目标，例如为灾区提供互联网服务以及观测地球表面。如果你想覆盖大面积区域，平流层是一个理想的位置。它比轨道最低的卫星还要更接近地面，这意味着向下发送信号所需的能量要少得多。

“What we ultimately offer is space-like conditions, without the cost of going to space and without the complexity of being in orbit,” says Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, Sceye’s CEO and founder. But it’s also not so easy to stay there. Sceye’s aircraft, Frandsen says, has to be light enough to stay aloft but also strong enough to carry the necessary systems. “我们最终提供的是类太空环境，但无需承担进入太空的成本，也没有轨道运行的复杂性，”Sceye 的首席执行官兼创始人 Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen 说道。但要在那里停留也并非易事。Frandsen 表示，Sceye 的飞行器既要足够轻以保持飞行，又要足够坚固以承载必要的系统。

It must soak up and store enough solar energy during the day to provide around-the-clock power to an electric fan that can maneuver the HAPS back into place when winds knock it out of position—mettle it proved in a 2024 test flight. Since then, Sceye has been preparing for its big Japan test. In the flight pictured here from this spring, for example, the craft stayed aloft for 12 days as it flew to the coast of Brazil and spent more than 88 hours “parked” in various locations. 它必须在白天吸收并储存足够的太阳能，以便为电动风扇提供全天候电力，从而在强风将其吹离位置时，能将 HAPS 重新调整回原位——这一能力已在 2024 年的试飞中得到验证。自那时起，Sceye 一直在为日本的大型测试做准备。例如，在今年春天拍摄的飞行中，该飞行器在飞往巴西海岸的过程中保持了 12 天的飞行状态，并在不同地点“停驻”了超过 88 小时。

Eventually, the company expects its platform could help satellite operators better serve densely populated areas. Someday, Frandsen says, spotting a HAPS may be as common as seeing ships at port or trains on the tracks. 最终，该公司预计其平台可以帮助卫星运营商更好地服务于人口稠密地区。Frandsen 说，总有一天，看到 HAPS 飞行器将变得像看到港口的船只或轨道上的火车一样普遍。