{"success":true,"data":{"pressRelease":{"id":"139117","rtpr_id":"nPn7C6RZfa-20260909","ticker":"9434","exchange":"TSE Tokyo","all_tickers":["9434"],"title":"Sceye's Stratospheric Platform Re-enters United States After Record-Breaking Roundtrip Stratospheric Flight Between U.S. and Japan","author":"PR Newswire","published_at":"2026-09-09T12:02:00.035Z","article_body":"Sceye's Stratospheric Platform Re-enters United States After Record-Breaking Roundtrip Stratospheric Flight Between U.S. and Japan\n\nPR Newswire\n\nMORIARTY, N.M., Sept. 9, 2026\n\nThe journey, which lasted 30 days and traversed nearly 30,000 km, included\noperating for a week in the stratosphere over Japan. While over Japan, Sceye\nand its partner SoftBank Corp. successfully verified Direct-to-Device\nconnectivity to unmodified devices, HAPS-based communications with drones, and\nedge computing from the stratosphere.\n\nMORIARTY, N.M., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sceye, a U.S. aerospace and\nmaterial science company building High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) for\nstratospheric infrastructure, today announced the successful return of its\nService Test 1 (ST1) mission\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=772953096&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsceye.com%2Fpress-releases%2Fsceye-and-softbank-complete-stratospheric-connectivity-demonstration-in-japan%2F&a=Service+Test+1+(ST1)+mission)\n to the United States after a record-breaking trans-Pacific flight from New\nMexico to Japan and back. ST1 launched on August 9, 2026, and arrived in Japan\n13 days later. While operating in Japan, Sceye demonstrated mobile broadband\nconnectivity to unmodified devices through SoftBank Corp.'s core network and\nHAPS-based edge computing and communication with drones to support the\ndevelopment of a 3D communications network.\n\nDuring its journey, Sceye's ST1 traveled nearly 30,000 km and re-entered\ncontinental U.S. on September 4, 2026. ST1 reached airspace near Sceye's\nheadquarters in Moriarty, New Mexico on September 5, 2026, where Sceye\ncompleted additional vehicle testing and a planned termination and descent.\n\n\"Groundbreaking and historic only begin to describe our ST1 flight,\" says\nMikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, Founder and CEO of Sceye. \"This mission proved\nnot only that our technology, vehicle systems, payload, and operational\ninfrastructure are ready for connectivity services, but also that the\nstratosphere is where the future non-terrestrial infrastructure lies. The\nstratosphere is what will enable the always-on future – including the\npromised land of 6G. Together ground, stratosphere, and space – each\noperating at their optimal strengths, will change the course of humanity.\"\n\nConducted in partnership with SoftBank Corp\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=1012371992&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.softbank.jp%2Fen%2F&a=SoftBank+Corp)\n. (TOKYO: 9434, \"SoftBank\"), a leading operator of telecommunications and IT\nbusinesses in Japan and globally, ST1 marks Sceye's first flight to Asia and\na groundbreaking milestone toward the commercial deployment of HAPS as\nstratospheric infrastructure. ST1 carried SceyeCELL\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=1534349334&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsceye.com%2Fpress-releases%2Fsceye-unveils-stratospheric-telecom-antenna-sceyecell%2F&a=SceyeCELL)\n, a first-of-its-kind \"cell tower in the sky\" designed to deliver wide-area\nmobile broadband directly to standard devices from the stratosphere. When\ndeployed at full scale, one Sceye HAPS is designed to cover the equivalent\narea of approximately 500 terrestrial towers.\n\nThe stratosphere offers the optimal vantage point: It is close enough to Earth\nfor high-capacity connectivity and observation, yet the altitude is high\nenough for wide-area reach. Importantly, the stratosphere offers space-like\nconditions without the cost of being in space and the disadvantages of being\nin orbit. Sceye's HAPS maintain altitude and their area of operation in the\nstratosphere through consecutive day and night cycles, operating like\ngeostationary satellites, only 1,800 times closer to Earth and at a fraction\nof the cost.\n\nSceye's ST1 mission successfully:\n\n * Traveled nearly 30,000 km from New Mexico to Japan and back to New Mexico over\na month-long journey\n * Operated within Japanese-managed airspace for over 7 days\n * Remained continuously within its target location on the coast of Japan for an\nextended period, achieving a station-seeking radius as low as 5 km\n * Operated between 16.5 and 17 km altitude while completing telecommunications,\ndrone, and emergency communications\n * Demonstrated mobile broadband from the stratosphere, including text messaging,\nvoice calls, internet access, and video streaming\n * Tested emergency calls, using an emergency alert messaging system designed for\nlarge-scale disasters, as well as communications with drones\n * Confirmed communications performance equivalent to that of terrestrial\nnetworks while reducing radio interference with ground-based base stations\n * Through a server installed on the HAPS, Sceye and SoftBank conducted data\nprocessing directly on the platform, demonstrating an average round-trip\nprocessing response time of 68 milliseconds, reducing communications latency\nby over 40% compared with internet-based cloud processing. This marks the\nworld's first successful test in which a mobile core network and a web server\nfor processing were installed on a HAPS, enabling response processing to be\nperformed entirely onboard the HAPS and the results to be relayed back to\nsmartphones.\nST1 is the first flight of Sceye's Service Test Program.\n\nAbout Sceye\n\nFounded in 2014, Sceye\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=2983892612&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsceye.com%2F&a=Sceye)\n (pronounced \"sky\") is an aerospace company dedicated to advancing\nstratospheric infrastructure to connect people and protect the planet. Sceye\nleads the High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) industry, focusing on\nuniversal connectivity, climate monitoring, natural resource management, and\ndisaster prevention.\n\nContact:  press@sceye.com (mailto:press@sceye.com)\n\nView original content to download\nmultimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sceyes-stratospheric-platform-re-enters-united-states-after-record-breaking-roundtrip-stratospheric-flight-between-us-and-japan-302872972.html\n(https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sceyes-stratospheric-platform-re-enters-united-states-after-record-breaking-roundtrip-stratospheric-flight-between-us-and-japan-302872972.html)\n\nSOURCE Sceye\n\n\n\nPhoto: \nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1984256/Sceye-ST1-Launch-6.jpg?id=OA2937247\nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1984258/Sceye-ST1-Lauch-5.jpg?id=OA2937250\nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1984260/Sceye-ST1-Launch-4.jpg?id=OA2937252\nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1589442/sceye-logo-suitcase-logo-full-colour-rgb-1000px-72ppi-ID-a12cb870d06f-Logo.jpg?id=OA2937119\n\nCopyright (c) 2026 PR Newswire Association,LLC. All Rights Reserved.","article_body_html":"","raw_payload":{"data":{"id":"nPn7C6RZfa-20260909","title":"Sceye's Stratospheric Platform Re-enters United States After Record-Breaking Roundtrip Stratospheric Flight Between U.S. and Japan","author":"PR Newswire","ticker":"9434","created":"2026-09-09T12:02:00.035Z","tickers":["9434"],"exchange":"TSE Tokyo","article_body":"Sceye's Stratospheric Platform Re-enters United States After Record-Breaking Roundtrip Stratospheric Flight Between U.S. and Japan\n\nPR Newswire\n\nMORIARTY, N.M., Sept. 9, 2026\n\nThe journey, which lasted 30 days and traversed nearly 30,000 km, included\noperating for a week in the stratosphere over Japan. While over Japan, Sceye\nand its partner SoftBank Corp. successfully verified Direct-to-Device\nconnectivity to unmodified devices, HAPS-based communications with drones, and\nedge computing from the stratosphere.\n\nMORIARTY, N.M., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sceye, a U.S. aerospace and\nmaterial science company building High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) for\nstratospheric infrastructure, today announced the successful return of its\nService Test 1 (ST1) mission\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=772953096&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsceye.com%2Fpress-releases%2Fsceye-and-softbank-complete-stratospheric-connectivity-demonstration-in-japan%2F&a=Service+Test+1+(ST1)+mission)\n to the United States after a record-breaking trans-Pacific flight from New\nMexico to Japan and back. ST1 launched on August 9, 2026, and arrived in Japan\n13 days later. While operating in Japan, Sceye demonstrated mobile broadband\nconnectivity to unmodified devices through SoftBank Corp.'s core network and\nHAPS-based edge computing and communication with drones to support the\ndevelopment of a 3D communications network.\n\nDuring its journey, Sceye's ST1 traveled nearly 30,000 km and re-entered\ncontinental U.S. on September 4, 2026. ST1 reached airspace near Sceye's\nheadquarters in Moriarty, New Mexico on September 5, 2026, where Sceye\ncompleted additional vehicle testing and a planned termination and descent.\n\n\"Groundbreaking and historic only begin to describe our ST1 flight,\" says\nMikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, Founder and CEO of Sceye. \"This mission proved\nnot only that our technology, vehicle systems, payload, and operational\ninfrastructure are ready for connectivity services, but also that the\nstratosphere is where the future non-terrestrial infrastructure lies. The\nstratosphere is what will enable the always-on future – including the\npromised land of 6G. Together ground, stratosphere, and space – each\noperating at their optimal strengths, will change the course of humanity.\"\n\nConducted in partnership with SoftBank Corp\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=1012371992&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.softbank.jp%2Fen%2F&a=SoftBank+Corp)\n. (TOKYO: 9434, \"SoftBank\"), a leading operator of telecommunications and IT\nbusinesses in Japan and globally, ST1 marks Sceye's first flight to Asia and\na groundbreaking milestone toward the commercial deployment of HAPS as\nstratospheric infrastructure. ST1 carried SceyeCELL\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=1534349334&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsceye.com%2Fpress-releases%2Fsceye-unveils-stratospheric-telecom-antenna-sceyecell%2F&a=SceyeCELL)\n, a first-of-its-kind \"cell tower in the sky\" designed to deliver wide-area\nmobile broadband directly to standard devices from the stratosphere. When\ndeployed at full scale, one Sceye HAPS is designed to cover the equivalent\narea of approximately 500 terrestrial towers.\n\nThe stratosphere offers the optimal vantage point: It is close enough to Earth\nfor high-capacity connectivity and observation, yet the altitude is high\nenough for wide-area reach. Importantly, the stratosphere offers space-like\nconditions without the cost of being in space and the disadvantages of being\nin orbit. Sceye's HAPS maintain altitude and their area of operation in the\nstratosphere through consecutive day and night cycles, operating like\ngeostationary satellites, only 1,800 times closer to Earth and at a fraction\nof the cost.\n\nSceye's ST1 mission successfully:\n\n * Traveled nearly 30,000 km from New Mexico to Japan and back to New Mexico over\na month-long journey\n * Operated within Japanese-managed airspace for over 7 days\n * Remained continuously within its target location on the coast of Japan for an\nextended period, achieving a station-seeking radius as low as 5 km\n * Operated between 16.5 and 17 km altitude while completing telecommunications,\ndrone, and emergency communications\n * Demonstrated mobile broadband from the stratosphere, including text messaging,\nvoice calls, internet access, and video streaming\n * Tested emergency calls, using an emergency alert messaging system designed for\nlarge-scale disasters, as well as communications with drones\n * Confirmed communications performance equivalent to that of terrestrial\nnetworks while reducing radio interference with ground-based base stations\n * Through a server installed on the HAPS, Sceye and SoftBank conducted data\nprocessing directly on the platform, demonstrating an average round-trip\nprocessing response time of 68 milliseconds, reducing communications latency\nby over 40% compared with internet-based cloud processing. This marks the\nworld's first successful test in which a mobile core network and a web server\nfor processing were installed on a HAPS, enabling response processing to be\nperformed entirely onboard the HAPS and the results to be relayed back to\nsmartphones.\nST1 is the first flight of Sceye's Service Test Program.\n\nAbout Sceye\n\nFounded in 2014, Sceye\n(https://edge.prnewswire.com/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4769867-1&h=2983892612&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsceye.com%2F&a=Sceye)\n (pronounced \"sky\") is an aerospace company dedicated to advancing\nstratospheric infrastructure to connect people and protect the planet. Sceye\nleads the High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) industry, focusing on\nuniversal connectivity, climate monitoring, natural resource management, and\ndisaster prevention.\n\nContact:  press@sceye.com (mailto:press@sceye.com)\n\nView original content to download\nmultimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sceyes-stratospheric-platform-re-enters-united-states-after-record-breaking-roundtrip-stratospheric-flight-between-us-and-japan-302872972.html\n(https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sceyes-stratospheric-platform-re-enters-united-states-after-record-breaking-roundtrip-stratospheric-flight-between-us-and-japan-302872972.html)\n\nSOURCE Sceye\n\n\n\nPhoto: \nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1984256/Sceye-ST1-Launch-6.jpg?id=OA2937247\nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1984258/Sceye-ST1-Lauch-5.jpg?id=OA2937250\nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1984260/Sceye-ST1-Launch-4.jpg?id=OA2937252\nhttps://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1589442/sceye-logo-suitcase-logo-full-colour-rgb-1000px-72ppi-ID-a12cb870d06f-Logo.jpg?id=OA2937119\n\nCopyright (c) 2026 PR Newswire Association,LLC. All Rights Reserved."},"type":"article","timestamp":"2026-09-09T12:02:00.082623695Z","server_sent_at_ms":1788955320082},"received_at":"2026-09-09T12:02:00.135Z","source_url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sceyes-stratospheric-platform-re-enters-united-states-after-record-breaking-roundtrip-stratospheric-flight-between-us-and-japan-302872972.html"},"analysis":{"id":"127955","press_release_id":"139117","analysis_json":{"industry":{"label":"Diversified Telecommunication Services","sector":"Communication Services"},"redFlags":[],"eventType":"operations_update","narrative":"Sceye's ST1 stratospheric platform re-entered the U.S. on September 4, 2026 after a 30-day, nearly 30,000 km roundtrip flight from New Mexico to Japan, conducted in partnership with SoftBank Corp.\n\nWhile operating for over seven days in Japanese-managed airspace, the platform demonstrated mobile broadband Direct-to-Device connectivity to unmodified devices through SoftBank's core network, communications with drones, and emergency alert messaging.\n\nThe mission also completed a world-first test of a mobile core network and web server installed onboard a HAPS, achieving an average 68 millisecond round-trip processing response time and cutting latency by over 40% versus internet-based cloud processing.\n\nFor SoftBank, the flight validates HAPS as a candidate stratospheric layer for future non-terrestrial networks toward 6G, though no commercial deployment timeline or financial commitments were disclosed.","sentiment":"bullish","agentHooks":{"shouldPost":false,"suggestedAngle":"SoftBank-validated stratospheric Direct-to-Device and edge-computing demo offers an early read on the HAPS layer in its 6G roadmap."},"keyFigures":{"customDimensions":{"flight_distance_km":"nearly 30,000 km","mission_duration_days":30,"operating_altitude_km":"16.5-17","transit_days_to_japan":13,"days_in_japanese_airspace":"over 7 days","station_keeping_radius_km":5,"coverage_equivalent_towers":500,"edge_processing_latency_ms":68,"latency_reduction_vs_cloud":"over 40%"}},"quotedText":"Groundbreaking and historic only begin to describe our ST1 flight","namedEntities":{"people":[{"name":"Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen","role":"Founder and CEO of Sceye"}],"products":["ST1 (Service Test 1)","SceyeCELL","High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS)"],"companies":[{"name":"Sceye","relationship":"technology partner (private U.S. aerospace company)"},{"name":"SoftBank Corp.","ticker":"9434","relationship":"filer and demonstration partner; core network used for Direct-to-Device connectivity"}],"dollarAmounts":[]},"materialImpact":{"score":2,"reasoning":"Successful record-setting HAPS technology demonstration with partner Sceye validates SoftBank's Direct-to-Device, drone-communications, and onboard edge-computing capabilities, but no revenue, guidance, or commercial commitments were disclosed."},"tickerRelevance":{"others":[],"primary":"9434"},"globalImportance":32,"audienceRelevance":30,"eventTypeSecondary":["partnership"],"importanceComponents":{"tickerTier":"large-cap Japanese telecom (SoftBank Corp, TSE 9434)","eventGravity":"technology demonstration milestone, no financial metrics","issuerAuthored":false,"householdBrandBoost":"SoftBank is a well-known brand, but the event is niche aerospace/telecom R&D","financialMateriality":"none disclosed"}},"event_type":"operations_update","event_type_secondary":["partnership"],"sentiment":"bullish","material_impact_score":2,"narrative":"Sceye's ST1 stratospheric platform re-entered the U.S. on September 4, 2026 after a 30-day, nearly 30,000 km roundtrip flight from New Mexico to Japan, conducted in partnership with SoftBank Corp.\n\nWhile operating for over seven days in Japanese-managed airspace, the platform demonstrated mobile broadband Direct-to-Device connectivity to unmodified devices through SoftBank's core network, communications with drones, and emergency alert messaging.\n\nThe mission also completed a world-first test of a mobile core network and web server installed onboard a HAPS, achieving an average 68 millisecond round-trip processing response time and cutting latency by over 40% versus internet-based cloud processing.\n\nFor SoftBank, the flight validates HAPS as a candidate stratospheric layer for future non-terrestrial networks toward 6G, though no commercial deployment timeline or financial commitments were disclosed.","key_figures":{"customDimensions":{"flight_distance_km":"nearly 30,000 km","mission_duration_days":30,"operating_altitude_km":"16.5-17","transit_days_to_japan":13,"days_in_japanese_airspace":"over 7 days","station_keeping_radius_km":5,"coverage_equivalent_towers":500,"edge_processing_latency_ms":68,"latency_reduction_vs_cloud":"over 40%"}},"named_entities":{"people":[{"name":"Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen","role":"Founder and CEO of Sceye"}],"products":["ST1 (Service Test 1)","SceyeCELL","High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS)"],"companies":[{"name":"Sceye","relationship":"technology partner (private U.S. aerospace company)"},{"name":"SoftBank Corp.","ticker":"9434","relationship":"filer and demonstration partner; core network used for Direct-to-Device connectivity"}],"dollarAmounts":[]},"model_name":"glm-5.3-flash","prompt_hash":"sha256:727b4b9429a443af","schema_hash":"sha256:05005c02d9cffac9","created_at":"2026-09-09T12:06:19.089Z","global_importance":32,"audience_relevance":30,"importance_components":{"tickerTier":"large-cap Japanese telecom (SoftBank Corp, TSE 9434)","eventGravity":"technology demonstration milestone, no financial metrics","issuerAuthored":false,"householdBrandBoost":"SoftBank is a well-known brand, but the event is niche aerospace/telecom R&D","financialMateriality":"none disclosed"}},"durationMs":42906,"modelName":"glm-5.3-flash"}}