Airbus partnership with Space Compass extends HAPS availability to Japanese market

Airbus HAPS Connectivity Business (Airbus HAPS, London, U.K.) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Space Compass Corporation of Japan (Space Compass, Tokyo, Japan) for a cooperation agreement to service the Japanese market with mobile connectivity and Earth observation services from the stratosphere with Airbus’ composites-intensive Zephyr platform.

“Our dedicated team will be working closely with Space Compass to offer 4G/5G low-latency mobile services, at unprecedented economics,” Samer Halawi, chief executive of Airbus HAPS, says. “Our innovative, record-breaking, green-energy-powered, platform is attracting interest from multiple mobile network operators and satellite and other service providers globally.”

Airbus HAPS is an Airbus subsidiary, which intends to provide new, environmentally friendly services from its stratospheric-operating, Zephyr solar-powered aircraft for mobile connectivity, platform mobility, Earth observation and for government applications. With the ability to provide low-latency 4G/5G services, Zephyr acts as a tower in the sky, complementing terrestrial networks, and providing mobile network operations (MNOs) with a profitable solution to serve rural and remote areas as well as an emergency response.