Among the latest aerospace technologies, there has been growing pace of activity around High Altitude Pseudo Satellites or HAPS platforms that are emerging as a disruptive technology which revolutionize near-space operations. Although these unmanned stratospheric vehicles have been in development since the 1990s, recent advancements in technologies have spurred the momentum with the latest iterations reaching more advanced stages in terms of operation, payloads, and capabilities.
High Altitude Pseudo Satellites are unmanned aircraft operating in the stratosphere at altitudes of approximately 65,000 feet or above. These solar-powered vehicles have been designed to plug the missing link between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying in lower altitudes and conventional satellites in space. Stationed in a fixed place, these long-endurance flights – lasting months or even years, help provide versatile intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) options thereby eliminating performance and capability limitations of satellites. Unlike regular satellites that are expensive to build and launch, HAPS cost far less and are easier to launch.
These vehicles can be controlled from anywhere using Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) technology. The main applications of HAPS are in surveillance, security communication, telecommunication and remote sensing for both non-civilian as well as civilian purposes. HAPS are particularly useful in providing services and sensors in remote areas lacking infrastructure or in deep seas. Critical infrastructure monitoring, surveillance of pipelines, transport infrastructure, ports, coastlines, offshore installation, creeks, lakes, borders, disaster relief, search and rescue (SAR) missions, smart city management, precision agriculture are some of the other areas where HAPS can provide valuable services.
As per a European Space Agency study, HAPS can provide “emergency communications and broadband internet services” for major events like Olympics. This is also true for any highly sensitive closed communication or surveillance requirement (for example elections, etc.). HAPS does this by establishing “secure communication and monitoring bubbles”.
Compared to ground-based communication networks, HAPS can cover larger areas with less interference. HAPS also ease data transfer when used as an intermediate conduit between satellite and ground based telecom networks. Compared to satellites, HAPS can perform better in most applications due to very low latency. They can also be overhauled and re-used with reconfigured payloads every few months. A 2017 study comparing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites and HAPS platforms for remote sensing shows that, due to their ability to remain continuously over an area for long periods of time, HAPS have “a clear advantage for revisiting a large zone with higher predictability and accuracy”.
With HAPS, it is now possible to address the challenges of vast, long and complex land borders, jungles, complex rivers, delta areas and coastlines. Hovering at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere, HAPS can provide services towards efficient border patrolling, tracking movements deep into the bordering territory or in the deep seas. Equipped with high-definition optical and infra-red cameras, state-of-the-art sensors, these aerial platforms are suitable for round-the-clock missions, border patrolling, target tracking, maritime surveillance and navigation, and even threat detection.
As an example, India has been working towards uplifting its space capabilities and focusing on the small satellite (SmSats) segment to fill the capability and performance limitations in meeting the C4ISR (Command, Control, Computers, Communications, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) needs vital for non-civilian operations. HAPS, due to their affordability, versatility and ability to provide prolonged high-resolution coverage of specific areas can play a vital role in supplementing defense communication infrastructure both territorial and space based to render robust round-the-clock surveillance on the borders and in the ocean regions.
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