SoftBank's Large-scale “Sunglider” Solar HAPS Aircraft Succeeds in Stratospheric Flight Trial with US Department of Defense and AeroVironment
SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434, President & CEO: Junichi Miyakawa, “SoftBank”) today announced that its “Sunglider” — a large-scale solar-powered uncrewed aircraft system (“UAS”) designed for High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) stratospheric telecommunications — was utilized in a field trial conducted by AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV, “AeroVironment”) and the US Department of Defense (“DoD”) in New Mexico, USA, in early August 2024. During the trial Sunglider succeeded in achieving stratospheric flight. Sunglider is a large-scale UAS for HAPS. It is larger than other publicly announced HAPS UAS*, with a wingspan of 78m and the capability to carry payloads weighing up to 75kg. That means its ability to deliver stable, high-speed and robust high-capacity mobile connectivity is a key feature. The Sunglider aircraft used in this stratospheric field trial was an improved version that incorporated structural and functional enhancements to enable better performance than the previous one...