How to enhance existing surveillance and communication capabilities at EU borders? Technology regularly brings answers to the arising needs, but Frontex has decided to go further and explore the potential of high-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS). A study launched in 2022 has just yielded the result – the HAPS Market Report, which marks the end of the first phase of the research.
Frontex is a member of the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security, a collaborative network of innovation labs that works together to provide the latest innovation updates in the area of internal security. In 2022, under the auspices of the network, Frontex launched a research study on high-altitude pseudo-satellites to explore whether HAPS could potentially address the operational needs of the Justice and Home Affairs community and further enhance existing surveillance and communications capabilities.
The study is meant to provide an overview of the HAPS market, a technology assessment, and a fundamental rights impact assessment for pseudo-satellites.
Attached to this article is the first deliverable - the HAPS Market Report. It includes the first wave of data collection and analysis on the topic, dividing the pseudo-satellites into two main categories:
- aerostatic - LTA (lighter-than-air – balloons and airships) and
- aerodynamic - HTA (heavier-than-air – fixed winged aircraft).
