Zephyr, Airbus’ high-altitude drone programme, will be spun off in order to establish a stand-alone telecom and earth observation company that will begin conducting business by the end of the year. The unmanned, solar-powered Zephyr planes operate at the edge of space, and the European aerospace and defence business has hired Morgan Stanley to identify outside partners to assist accelerate the commercialization of the technology.

The Zephyr is “now at a final design stage,” according to Samer Halawi, a former executive at Intelsat and OneWeb who has been running the programme at Airbus since last summer. He continued by saying that the company was “ready to monetize this aircraft” and create a “complete business” around it. The current Zephyr Z8, which was originally created by engineers from the defence company Qinetiq, has a wingspan of 25m but only weights 75kg. It recharges its batteries and flies using solar panels. It is intended to travel at a height of around 70,000 feet in the stratosphere, near the edge of space, above weather systems and commercial aircraft but below traditional satellites.

The company, which will use the brand “Aalto,” is already in discussions with a number of potential strategic partners and commercial clients. To aid in its commercialization, it will need to raise money. According to Halawi, “Airbus is not a corporation that provides telecom services.” The goal of the carve-out is to scale this firm and attract partners who share the same values.

Asserting that it would “keep ownership in Aalto, where the Zephyr programme resides, but will seek outside investment to assist advance the company’s aims,” Airbus stated that it had engaged Morgan Stanley. High-flying, solar-powered drones, according to business leaders, have advantages over traditional satellites, including reduced costs and better flexibility. According to Halawi, the Zephyr provided a “good blend of capabilities” for clients wishing to expand broadband access to off-the-grid or disaster-stricken areas, including mobile operators. It had the endurance of a satellite, offered more coverage than terrestrial infrastructure, and was sufficiently close to Earth to “speak directly to end-user devices,” he continued.

The corporation intends to establish “Aalto ports” in 5 or 6 different countries, including the US and the Middle East. Zephyr has already earned some money from previous clients, particularly from government clients like the UK Ministry of Defense. At the moment, the firm has ten aircraft at its UK facility at Farnborough. The most recent system, the Zephyr Z8, flew for 64 continuous days before coming to an end last year. Halawi claimed that although a component had failed because to the poor weather, the design was now finished.