Jiří Pavlík, Stratosyst CEO
Stratosyst is a Czech company based in Prague that was founded with one single purpose – to make long-term sustainable stratospheric flight a reality. The original idea was to develop HAPS as an astronomic observatory, and the whole concept was presented this way at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide in 2017 and in Washington in 2019. We also won a Space Oscar in the Galileo Masters in 2018. However, as our platform Skyrider is unique in its universality, we decided to focus more on market demand. Today our main priorities are earth observation and telecommunication, and the platform can be easily used for GNSS augmentation or meteorology as well.
We came across the HAPS Alliance on the web and, knowing Loon from a meeting of the Near Space Group (NSG), we reached out for more details. Stratosyst is one of the co-founders of NSG, a Europe-centric body aiming to coordinate the HAPS ecosystem, and it was always one of our priorities to ensure harmonized legislation for operations in the stratosphere. We see the HAPS Alliance as the perfect place to make this happen and we did not hesitate to join. Putting together people with vast experience, various backgrounds and incomparable drive to achieve results leads to disruptive and innovative ideas, and every meeting fills us with positive energy and the desire to go further to achieve our mutual goals.
The purpose of the HAPS Alliance is shaping global legislation and public education, and speaking of legislation, our CBO Martin Farkač is an expert in the field of European space policy, constitutional engineering and legislation. His background surely is a great fit for the Aviation Working Group, where we aim to ensure implementation of suitable HAPS legislation in the coming years.
Thanks to our strong background in aerospace engineering and aircraft operation, Stratosyst can offer the HAPS Alliance insight during preparation of the technical requirements that must be incorporated into guidelines and regulatory policies for future smooth stratospheric operation. The stratosphere is likely to be used by several types of platform with totally different capabilities. This requires significant changes to the current legislation used for civil aviation. Stratosyst is a Europe-based company, and since most of the HAPS Alliance members are from the United States, we can help to spread the word to other regions.
The main advantage of the HAPS Alliance is the drive and will to move things forward and make our dreams a reality. All members cooperate and work hard to achieve results, and by doing that they help each other. It is great to be a part of such a team. Time is running by and the technology now surpasses the expectation of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) providers. It is crucial that we do not waste any moment, in order to see our technology change the world and help people all across the globe as soon as possible.
I believe that all the HAPS Alliance working groups are doing a tremendous job. What excites me most is the common effort to create an atmosphere in which all members can fly side-by-side in a cooperative environment, while competing in the market.