Photo of the HAPS test courtesy of SoftBank

The Government of Rwanda and SoftBank have delivered 5G connectivity from the stratosphere as part of a key demonstration. SoftBank announced details of the successful demo, Oct. 17. They have successfully tested SoftBank’s proprietary 5G communications payload in the stratosphere installed on a solar-powered High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) prototype. SoftBank claims this is the world’s first publicly announced delivery of 5G connectivity from a HAPS UAV in the stratosphere.

SoftBank’s stratosphere-ready communications payload continuously delivered 5G connectivity for approximately 73 minutes in the stratosphere at a maximum altitude of 16.9km and performed as expected in demanding atmospheric conditions. During the test, the stratosphere-ready 5G communications payload enabled a 5G-based Zoom video call between a smartphone at the test site in Rwanda and SoftBank team members in Japan. Building on the results of this successful stratospheric 5G connectivity demonstration, SoftBank and the Government of Rwanda will study potential HAPS use cases and commercial implementation in Rwanda, and other regions of Africa, in the JRP framework. Use cases under consideration include the digitalization of schools and communities in rural communities without Internet connectivity.

“I am thrilled that our 5G payload performed in the stratosphere far beyond our expectations. This test marks an important step forward in our aim of bridging the digital divide with HAPS and other NTN solutions. We are grateful to the Government of Rwanda for their unwavering support and look forward to working with them to study use cases for commercial implementation,” Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO of SoftBank said in a statement.