Moriarty, New Mexico, USA

Sceye—a material science company founded by Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen to unleash the possibilities in the stratosphere by connecting all people and protecting our planet—designs, manufactures, and operates new high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), helium-lifted, and solar-powered aircraft that operates in the stratosphere at 65,000 feet.

Sceye High-Altitude Platform Station’s project recently won a 2022 Green Good Design Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Sceye connects directly to mobile devices and observes the Earth in real-time at resolutions that have never been possible before.

Sceye stations are an excellent solution for instant infrastructure in an era where broadband access has become an essential element of everyday life.

At the same time, while in the stratosphere, Sceye also track and monitor methane and gas emissions, climate change trends, and provide early detection of wildfires and other natural disasters with greater precision than satellites.

Sceye aims to provide universal broadband to help lift billions of unconnected and under-connected people out of poverty, conduct high-resolution and real-time Earth monitoring to combat climate change and early detection and interception of natural disasters before they spiral out of control.

The impact is central to the design process and the choice of communities that Sceye serves.

This begins with the materials: skins that are 5x stronger relative to weight than the next best alternative, batteries with an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, and a solar cape that uses 85% lighter Copper Indium Gallium Selenide Cells and 50% lighter Gallium Arsenide Cells.

All of these innovations prepare the High-Altitude Platform Station to remain in the stratosphere for months at a time, providing continuous and reliable service.

Additionally, massive MIMO array and 3D beam-forming technologies are used to deliver extended range, efficiency, and high quality of service to areas that have been overlooked by traditional telecommunications providers.

The expressed goal is to serve remote and rural areas, as well as regions where terrain has made cell towers, satellites, and fiber-optic cables difficult to install.

Project: Sceye High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS)
Designers: Sceye, Inc. and Sceye S.A.
Manufacturers: Sceye, Inc. and Sceye S.A.