Stratospheric Internet: Closing the World’s Last Major Connectivity Gap

The technology that is intended to close the world’s last major connectivity gap now comes from the stratosphere.

Around a quarter of the global population still lacks worthwhile internet access. Conventional satellites have not eliminated this gap, while laying fibre is simply not economically viable in many areas. A new generation of flight platforms in the stratosphere is now gaining momentum, promising fast internet for even the most remote villages at substantially lower cost than existing solutions.

Why billions remain offline despite Starlink

At first glance, the situation seems impressive: tens of thousands of satellites, led by Starlink and OneWeb, are already orbiting Earth. Yet the International Telecommunication Union’s “Facts and Figures 2025” report shows that roughly 2.2 billion people have no reliable internet connection, often in rural parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

There are clear reasons for this:

• Limited capacity from space: The more users share a satellite cell, the slower each connection becomes. The system rapidly reaches its limits in densely populated places.
• Costly infrastructure: Providing continuous coverage for a particular point on Earth requires entire fleets of satellites in low orbit. Their development, launch and operation cost billions.
• High prices for end users: For many people in emerging and developing economies, a satellite subscription is simply unaffordable.

“The next stage of global connectivity is moving from Earth orbit into the stratosphere – closer to users, with lower costs and less delay.”

This is precisely where the idea of stratospheric internet comes in: platforms operating at about 20 kilometres above the ground are designed to bridge the gap between terrestrial stations and satellites.

How internet from the stratosphere works

The technology behind it has the rather unwieldy name HAPS, short for High Altitude Platform Station. These are unmanned aircraft capable of effectively ‘parking’ at high altitude for extended periods. They include:

• Solar-powered airships filled with helium
• Long-range drones with wide wingspans
• Special aircraft using hydrogen or hybrid propulsion

Rather than orbiting the planet as satellites do, these platforms remain largely above one area at altitudes of 18 to 25 kilometres. By comparison, conventional low-Earth-orbit communications satellites generally operate at around 500 kilometres.

The much shorter distance between transmitter and receiver brings several benefits:

• Lower latency: Data packets travel a shorter route, bringing response times closer to those of mobile networks.
• Extensive area coverage: A single platform can serve hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, far more than a conventional mobile mast.
• Lower cost per user: Sending platforms into the stratosphere is considerably cheaper and logistically simpler than launching rockets into orbit.

The aircraft are powered mainly by large solar panels and batteries. This allows them to remain airborne for weeks, or even months, without refuelling. On the ground, users generally receive the signal through 4G, 5G or dedicated radio modules, making it feel much like an ordinary mobile network.

An old idea with new technology: how HAPS differs from Google Loon

Internet from the stratosphere is not an entirely new concept. Businesses and research institutions were already testing these kinds of platforms in the 1990s. During the 2010s, Alphabet’s balloon project “Loon” in particular attracted widespread attention.

Loon ultimately delivered disappointing results. The service was closed in 2021 because several issues remained unresolved:

• The balloons drifted heavily in the wind and required complex navigation systems to control them.
• Launching and recovering them demanded considerable effort, as did maintenance.
• At the same time, satellite networks were becoming cheaper at a rapid pace and were being run more professionally.

Although newer HAPS generations build on the original concept, their technical ambitions are much greater. Advances in lightweight materials, solar cells, batteries, autopilots and radio electronics are making long-term operation in the stratosphere more realistic and more affordable.

The most notable projects and players at a glance

Sceye: huge solar airship from the United States

US company Sceye is developing a vast helium-filled airship around 65 metres long and covered in solar panels. Its approach is for the vehicle to hold its position above a region with great precision, serving for months as a near-stationary internet hotspot.

Its target markets include poorly served areas, as well as uses such as disaster response and the monitoring of critical infrastructure. For instance, an airship could rapidly establish an emergency network after an earthquake if mobile masts have failed.

Aalto HAPS: Airbus subsidiary with the “Zephyr” solar drone

Airbus subsidiary Aalto HAPS has chosen a different route: an exceptionally light solar-powered drone called Zephyr. With a wingspan of roughly 25 metres and very low energy consumption, it is intended to remain over the same area for up to 67 consecutive days.

The drone can operate like a mobile mast in the stratosphere. In effect, it sits ‘above’ a region and provides broadband services to people on the ground. These platforms are of interest to military users as well as telecommunications companies.

World Mobile: affordable internet for entire countries

Another example comes from the United Kingdom. World Mobile is using a hydrogen-powered aircraft that can deliver bandwidth of up to 200 megabits per second. Its cost model is especially noteworthy:

“According to the company, nine of these platforms could theoretically provide all 5.5 million people in Scotland with fast internet – for only around 80 pence per person per month.”

By comparison, a typical satellite service such as Starlink costs around £75 per household each month in this example. That would represent an enormous difference for economically disadvantaged regions.

Will the stratosphere replace satellites and mobile networks?

This new technology is not being positioned as a rival, but as an addition. Mobile masts will remain ideal for densely populated cities, while fibre provides the backbone for high-speed backhaul connections. Satellites are particularly effective at sea and in extreme locations such as the Arctic and deserts.

Stratospheric platforms fill the space between these options. They are especially promising for:

• Large rural areas with sparse populations
• Mountainous regions and island groups
• Disaster zones where infrastructure has been destroyed
• Countries where extending conventional networks is barely financially feasible

In practice, a typical future network could work like this: fibre links major cities and data centres, mobile networks serve urban areas, HAPS cover rural regions, and satellites step in where no other option works at all.

Unresolved issues: regulation, radio spectrum and security

Before stratospheric internet can truly take off, several obstacles still need to be overcome. Managing radio frequencies is particularly sensitive. HAPS, satellites and mobile networks must not interfere with one another. Allocating spectrum requires international coordination and new regulatory frameworks.

Security issues must also be addressed: who runs the platforms, who monitors the airspace, how are crashes prevented, and how can cyber-attacks be defended against? Control of these networks is a sensitive matter for militaries and intelligence agencies, as they carry large volumes of data and potentially critical communications.

End-of-life disposal of the platforms is another consideration. Unlike satellites, HAPS can be brought down in a controlled landing, but operators must still establish how materials will be recycled and potential environmental impacts reduced.

What terms such as latency and bandwidth mean in practice

People who rarely deal with network technology will repeatedly encounter technical terms in discussions of stratospheric projects. Two are especially important:

• Latency: The time required for a data packet to travel from a user’s device to a server and back. Low latency enables smooth video calls, responsive gaming and quick reactions from online services.
• Bandwidth: This describes how much data can be transmitted each second. It determines download speed and how many people can use a platform at the same time.

Stratospheric platforms operate much closer to users than satellites do. As a result, latency falls, making many services more pleasant to use, from online lessons to telemedicine.

Practical scenarios: where HAPS could make the biggest difference

The potential is particularly significant in places where few people currently expect a stable internet connection. One example could be an African country with vast savannahs, limited roads and a small public budget. Building conventional mobile masts there would require hundreds of kilometres of access roads and electricity lines.

With a handful of HAPS, the country could be divided into workable zones, with each platform serving several districts. Schools could offer online teaching, farmers could access real-time weather data and small businesses could accept digital payments, without costly masts and fibre having to be installed everywhere.

Natural disasters provide another scenario. Following floods or earthquakes, ground-based networks are often out of action for days. HAPS can be moved to affected areas relatively quickly and establish an emergency network within hours. Emergency responders can coordinate more effectively, while those affected can contact relatives.

Opportunities and risks for users in Europe

Europe, including Germany, also has connectivity blackspots. Stratospheric internet could eliminate mobile dead zones in rural areas where operators currently have little financial incentive to build new masts.

At the same time, dependence on a small number of international technology players is increasing. Any country that relies entirely on an overseas HAPS operator for rural connectivity becomes vulnerable to price rises, political tensions or technical failures. Governments and regulators must therefore look carefully at whom they licence and which minimum standards apply to security, data protection and availability.

One thing is clear: the stratosphere is increasingly coming into focus as a “new layer” of the internet. Whether it actually connects more people than the current wave of satellite services will depend not only on technology and costs, but also on how wisely policymakers and companies integrate this additional layer into the wider network.