Sceye and SoftBank Achieve World-First Stratospheric Laser Tracking

The project involved installing a corner cube reflector on Sceye’s ST1 platform, which carried the technology on its historic journey from New Mexico to Japan and back. On the ground, a portable laser ranging system—derived from Hitotsubashi University’s Omni-SLR satellite technology—maintained a constant lock on the HAPS as it navigated the stratosphere. By measuring how light attenuated through the shifting atmosphere, the team gathered critical data needed to refine the installation of optical communication hardware for future missions.

Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of Sceye, noted that the platform’s ability to support diverse functions, from edge computing to laser ranging, signals a shift in how secure information moves across global networks. CTO Johnny Truong compared the technical difficulty of the feat to keeping a laser pointer fixed on a moving coin ten miles away. This validation is a foundational step for high-capacity non-terrestrial networks, which promise to improve disaster recovery, connectivity in remote regions, and high-speed data transmission between space-based assets and ground infrastructure.