While satellite providers continue to build large constellations in LEO, continuous connectivity to the ground remains difficult and expensive. High altitude platform stations, or HAPS, could be one alternative.

Constellations spoke with Russ Van Der Werff, Vice President of the HAPS Alliance and VP of Stratospheric Solutions at Aerostar. High-altitude platform stations, or HAPS, are poised to enter the satellite space by providing a low-flying, high data-rate alternative to the end-user. Read some of the main takeaways below, or listen to the full episode.

Takeaway: High-altitude platform stations are a satellite alternative that lives in the stratosphere.

“High altitude platforms are, simply put, anything that flies that’s in a higher altitude than a traditional aircraft,” said Van Der Werff. Normal aviation flies at around 30,000 feet, and satellites fly hundreds of miles further. A platform station would sit in-between in the stratosphere, between 40-100,000 feet in altitude.

“We’ve developed platforms and technologies that can fly at these altitudes,” he said, which include various types of lighter-than-air, fixed-wing aircraft. “There are advantages to being closer to the ground than a satellite would be,” said Van Der Werff. Flying at a significantly lower altitude means that high data rates will be cheaper, easier, and faster to get to the ground.

Takeaway: LEO satellites and HAPS have complementary capabilities.

“Traditional aircraft and spacecraft serve different roles and have different strengths and different applications. The same thing is true with HAPS,” said Van Der Werff. With currently flying LEO satellites, D2D services are very limited. “It’s really low data rate information,” he said. “You can’t watch a YouTube video on that type of connection.” One solution could be HAPS.

On a platform station, “the link budget, that distance, is a lot closer,” he said. “The data will flow a lot faster because you just have less distance to cover.” More bandwidth and better coverage arepossible on a platform station, since traffic doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles to reach a ground station. Other concerns about LEO, including congestion, increasing regulations, and the amount of energy it takes to maintain large satellites, means that reliable alternatives are always in demand.

Takeaway: HAPS providers are working to ensure 5G connectivity and NTN interoperability.

Coverage will first focus on filling existing gaps by supporting connectivity in underserved areas that lack proper infrastructure. “As it ramps up, you’ll see it fill out to meeting gap needs,” Van Der Werff explained. “For example, transient high population areas, maybe events where there’s a lot of people and a temporary need for a lot of bandwidth.”

One of the main concerns of a new platform technology like HAPS is interoperability with existing networks. HAPS providers are working to ensure 5G connectivity, so that your phone could just as easily connect to a platform station as it could to a LEO satellite. “The idea is that your handset is not just roaming to terrestrial towers, but it might be able to roam up to a high altitude platform, out to a satellite and back,” he said.

With true interoperability, all of this will be seamless to the end user. “You don’t have to care if you’re roaming to a tower or to an access point that’s strapped to the side of a building near you, or to a satellite, or a high altitude platform,” said Van Der Werff. “That should be a transparent user experience.”

Takeaway: In the next decade, HAPS has the opportunity to gain mainstream relevance in the world of satellite.

HAPS technology, Van Der Werff argues, is already fairly mature. Aerostar flies hundreds of lighter-than-air balloons each year, accumulating millions of flight hours. “I think we’re knocking the technical barriers down,” he said. “But then there’s the regulatory piece and the safety piece.”

“On the regulatory side, there’s a lot of work going into airspace deconfliction,” he added, which includes clearly stating what is allowed to fly at what altitude, as well as determining frequency allocations so that everything can talk to each other.

With more systems deployed, more things in the sky, and more interoperability across networks, a wider range of applications beyond communication will become possible. “You’re going to see all the same kinds of things you might want to do with an aircraft and satellites, but in places where that low cost, regional persistence and easy deployability really are key advantages. You’re going to see HAPS playing in all those areas.”

To hear more about multi-orbit interoperability, increased bandwidth, and the key companies driving HAPS technology, listen to the full podcast episode.

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