ROSWELL,
N.M., Aug. 19, 2024 /CNW/ -- Sceye, an aerospace
company with a background in material science and manufacturer of
High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS), announced today that it
completed a full diurnal flight in the stratosphere while staying
over an area of operation. This is a critical milestone towards
long-duration flights of months or years by using of solar power
through daylight hours, and battery capacity enabling overnight
flight through solar recharge the next morning. The HAPS launched
at 7:36 AM MST on August 15th from the company's New Mexico facility and landed at 12:21 PM MST the following day after the flight
test points were completed.
"This is a significant milestone for the Sceye team, towards
opening up vast opportunities in the stratosphere, building an
entirely new layer of infrastructure between drones and
satellites," said Sceye CEO and Founder, Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. The ability to stay
in the stratosphere for long durations over an area of operation
offers a unique vantage point for detecting climate disasters in
real time like wildfires and methane leaks, as well as connectivity
to the billions of unconnected which conventional infrastructures
cannot serve.
Today's launch furthered all key stratospheric objectives of the
Sceye 2024 test program, including demonstrating diurnal flight,
controlled relocation, and the ability to stay over an area of
operation. The completion of these objectives will allow Sceye to
initiate commercial use cases.
"The flight was an important demonstration of our platform's
performance and resilience. I'm looking forward to seeing the
growth and capabilities scale with each and every flight that
follows," said Stephanie
Luongo, Sceye Chief of Mission Operations.
Sceye has completed twenty test flights, with two additional
test flights planned for 2024, further maturing the platform in
preparation for commercialization.
The flight carried an advanced payload suite consisting of
instruments for addressing some of humanity's most critical
issues : stereo-optical cameras, for creating precise elevation
models used to understand disasters such as floodings and
earthquakes and how to mitigate them; infrared cameras to allow for
prediction and detection of wildfires and to detect methane leaks
in real time, representing two significant sources of global
warming. The payload also included synthetic aperture radar that
allows the platform to see through clouds and observe the planet's
most vital systems in any weather and time of day.
About Sceye
Sceye is an aerospace company founded in 2014 to unleash the
possibilities in the stratosphere by uplifting and connecting all
people and protecting our planet. The company is leading the
industry of High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) to provide
universal and equitable connectivity, improve climate change
monitoring, natural resource stewardship, wildfire detection and
better detect and contain disasters before they spiral out of
control.
Press Inquiries:
Kristian Ullum Vind
press@sceye.com
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SOURCE Sceye