5G From the Sky: New Internet Infrastructure Takes Flight - CNET

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Sceye's High-Altitude Platform System just concluded its endurance testing program, bringing this new way to connect one step closer to widespread adoption. A new way to get internet took to the skies recently, and it aims to be a bridge between satellite-based internet like Starlink and terrestrial-based internet from local cell towers. The large oblong silver balloons are called HAPS, short for High Altitude Platform Systems. HAPS come in many shapes and sizes, including the fixed-wing Airbus Zephyr. Sceye, however, has chosen a balloon-like design to take advantage of helium’s lighter-than-air lift to reach the stratosphere and stay there. Sceye’s HAPS on its way to the stratosphere. Sceye’s latest test flight marked the end of the technology’s endurance program, where the HAPS spent over 12 days in the air. The program gathered data about how systems degrade over time. This data will allow the