With the satellite industry just starting to get back on its feet in the public eye–as evidenced by the recent performance of satellite industry stocks– the industry may need to brace itself for competition from an emerging technology that stands to compete for the money the military currently is pumping into the commercial satellite sector.

The technology in question is a high-altitude rigid airship that Sanswire Networks LLC is looking to use to challenge both satellite and terrestrial wireless for communications services. The company announced May 9 that its prototype stratellite Sanswire One has been completed, floated and tested.

Sanswire describes a stratellite as a high-altitude airship that when in place in the stratosphere, approximately 65,000 feet in altitude, will provide a stationary platform for transmitting various types of wireless communications services currently being transmitted from cell towers and satellites. The stratellite is similar to a satellite in concept, but its location in the stratosphere will allow for more efficient two-way high-speed data communications, the company said.

Sanswire One measures 188 feet in length following a recent redesign that extended the tail 75 feet and the nose 63 feet and made the airship more aerodynamic. Sanswire Networks believes it to be the largest rigid frame airship in existence.

“The Sanswire One is a prototype that has been completed and floated in San Bernardino,” Leigh Coleman, president of Globetel Communications Corp., the parent company of Sanswire Networks, told Satellite News. “We have done testing on the space frame and materials. The next plan is to go to an area near Edwards Air Force Base and, toward the end of summer, do a flight that will take the ship up to around 45,000 feet.”

Sanswire engineers gathered airborne stress measurements and other data during its tethered flight in San Bernardino. The stratellite will carry a full communications play during the test at Edwards Air Force Base, which will be key in determining the potential of the concept, Coleman said.

A Humble Point Of View

Coleman spoke with confidence about the stratellite technology and its potential to alter the competitive landscape, but at the same time, he kept the hype surrounding the new technology in check.

“It’s last-mile replacement and that affects telecoms and it is a satellite replacement, which affects satellite companies. It is quite a big paradigm shift in the market,” Coleman said. “The interest [in the stratellite] to say the least has been huge from a global perspective.”

Sanswire has spoken with companies in both the satellite and wireless industries, Coleman said. “Given that this will change the way wireless communication is done, we have seen extreme interest. It is a replacement program for [low earth orbit satellites] because a stratellite can be launched for far lower cost. It also is a replacement for terrestrial wireless infrastructure.”

In the same breath, Coleman did not hesitate to offer one caveat about the potential for a stratellite to alter the competitive landscape for satellites and terrestrial wireless: “If this is successful.”

Military Interest

While Sanswire Networks already has received its first commercial contract from Dynamic International Networks Inc., which plans to launch stratellites throughout South America to provide various communications services, including broadband, voice over Internet Protocol, and video, it is the U.S. government that could become the most significant customer.

“Our relationship with the U.S. government is extreme,” Coleman said. “They are pushing us. We have relationships with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Air Force in developing this program.”

In fact, the military is pushing for more investment in technologies. Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle, the U.S. Army‘s chief information officer said at a conference on unmanned aerial vehicles in December 2004 the military needs to increase its investment in high altitude airships, a platform that provides potentially greater capabilities than unmanned aerial vehicles (SN, Dec. 20, 2004).

–Gregory Twachtman

(Leigh Coleman, Globetel, 954/241-0590)