High-Altitude Airship Tested Over New Mexico Desert

NM – Sceye Inc. is developing a high-altitude platform station that company officials hope will provide an option other than satellites and airplanes for boosting internet connectivity and collecting data on everything from industrial pollution to wildfire threats. They launched one of its airships from the New Mexico desert as part of a key test on the way to commercial operations.

It took a couple of hours for the unmanned helium-filled station to reach the stratosphere earlier this month. It was to maintain its position there for 24 hours, a milestone bringing Sceye closer to commercial operations over the next 18 to 24 months. Founder and CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsenand said his team will aim for more longevity with subsequent flights from their home base in Roswell. Vestergaard Frandsenand said it takes about eight months to build a station, which consists of a sleek reflective fabric designed to operate in the stratosphere at 65,000 feet (19.8 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface.

Sceye’s airship runs on solar panels and a bank of lithium-sulfur batteries capable of lifting heavy payloads. The New Mexico Economic Development Department pledged up to $5 million in funding when Sceye announced it would locate in the state. The company has operations in Roswell and Moriarty, a small community near Albuquerque.