S/ Miyakawa Junichi, SoftBank President & CEO/ We have already received permission to fly within Japanese airspace. We are preparing to provide service.

Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank announced its plans to launch an unmanned HAPS, or short for High Altitude Platform Station, in 2026 to provide mobile phone connection from the stratosphere, 20 kilometers from the ground.

SoftBank will collect data and begin pre-commercial operations within Japan.

Starting in 2027, the company aims to provide HAPS telecommunication services for free in the case of large-scale disasters when terrestrial cell towers are out of service.

Telecom rival NTT Docomo is also developing HAPS and plans to begin services next year.