AALTO Timeline

Events

• 2026-03-02 - Partnership - AALTO and Telkomsel sign Indonesia Stratospace memorandum - The memorandum was signed at Mobile World Congress Barcelona. The parties described initial Zephyr operations from 2027 as a target, not a completed deployment. The work builds on AALTO's existing cooperation with Indonesian infrastructure operator Mitratel. - source: aaltohaps.com
• 2025-04-28 - Demonstration - AALTO completes 67-day continuous Zephyr stratospheric flight - The flight launched from AALTOPORT Kenya on 20 February 2025 and concluded on 28 April. Zephyr crossed the Intertropical Convergence Zone twice and navigated seven flight-information regions. The aircraft conducted connectivity-payload testing before… - source: aaltohaps.com
• 2025-03-03 - Capability - AALTO connects a ground 4G device through Zephyr in Kenya - The campaign was conducted for Space Compass with NTT DOCOMO as partner. Testing included a telephone call routed from Kenya through Zephyr to the United Kingdom. AALTO measured throughput, signal quality and other payload-performance characteristics. - source: aaltohaps.com
• 2025-02-03 - Deployment - AALTO completes first operational Zephyr flight from Kenya base - The aircraft flew above 60,000 feet for more than 13 days. Zephyr carried a Farnborough-developed direct-to-device 4G/5G connectivity payload. The flight followed permissions secured with the Kenya Space Agency and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. - source: aaltohaps.com
• 2024-10-30 - Executive Hire - AALTO appoints Hughes Boulnois chief executive - Boulnois had most recently served as Airbus vice president for Zephyr. He previously led customer programme management for A400M and served as general manager for SpaceDataHighway. AALTO paired the appointment with a strategy focused on government demand… - source: aaltohaps.com
• 2024-07-25 - Regulatory - AALTO secures UK CAA Design Organisation Approval - The approval was the first UK Design Organisation Approval issued to a HAPS company. The CAA reviewed AALTO's procedures, facilities and design-team competence. AALTO continued type-certification work for Zephyr; the approval was not itself aircraft type… - source: aaltohaps.com
• 2024-06-03 - Market Signal - AALTO announces $100M investment commitment from Japanese consortium - Mizuho Bank and the Development Bank of Japan joined the consortium. The commitment supports Zephyr industrialisation and HAPS commercialisation in Asia. Airbus Defence and Space would remain AALTO's majority shareholder. - source: aaltohaps.com