Japan to replace 4G and 5G towers with airships by 2026

Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank has announced plans to begin pilot operations in 2026 for 4G and 5G base stations mounted on airships, according to IEEE Spectrum.

These platforms will be located in the stratosphere at an altitude of around 20 kilometres, providing direct smartphone connectivity and lower latency compared to satellite systems. The project is being developed in collaboration with the American startup Sceye. The technology is based on lighter-than-air aircraft equipped with flexible solar panels and batteries, enabling them to remain stationary for up to one year.

In October 2023, the team successfully conducted tests, making the first international call via a stratospheric platform — from Rwanda to Tokyo.

SoftBank envisions two primary use cases for the technology:
– Permanent coverage in hard-to-reach regions
– Rapid deployment of communication services in disaster-stricken areas

According to company representatives, the stations will offer seamless connectivity, similar to handovers between ground-based towers. A single platform can replace up to 25 ground stations, despite a payload limit of about 250 kilograms.

The final strategy will be determined following the pilot phase, during which the project’s technical and economic parameters will be refined.

By Vugar Khalilov