A technology company test-launched an airship from the New Mexico desert last week, taking a critical step toward providing an option, other than satellites and airplanes, to boost internet connectivity and collect other data.
Sceye, Inc., launched an unmanned helium-filled station that rose to the stratosphere where it remained for 24 hours. The tech company wants to bring broadband to more remote areas and monitor methane and other emissions from the oil and gas industry.
Founder and CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsenand said longevity will be established in subsequent flights from their home base in Roswell.
“Every flight is a big deal, but every flight also is just another step in a process of iterative learning,” he told KOB4 News.
Vestergaard Frandsenand said it takes about eight months to build a station. It consists of a reflective fabric designed to operate at 65,000 feet above the earth’s surface. The station runs on solar panels and a bank of lithium-sulfur batteries.
“Whether we achieve our objective with this flight or achieve something that’s short of the objective, we’re going to learn a lot,” he told KOB4 News.
The New Mexico Economic Development Department pledged up to $5 million in funding when Sceye announced it would locate its company in the state. In exchange, Sceye partnered last year with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico regulators to study air pollution and climate change in the future.
The company has operations in Roswell and Moriarty, a small community near Albuquerque. The state also has been studying accelerated formats for expanding high-speed internet. State officials have said Sceye could play a role in that effort through a separate multimillion-dollar contract.
