The "ApusNeo 18," a high-altitude pseudosatellite with an 18-meter wingspan and made entirely of composite materials, successfully completed its test flight.
This 18-meter wingspan, all-composite material aircraft platform successfully acquired imagery data at altitudes of 3,000 to 12,000 meters, laying a solid foundation for its high-altitude mission applications.
In late November 2025, Uavos Inc. of the United States announced that it had completed the test flight of the “ApusNeo 18” High Altitude Pseudosatellite (HAPS) for Mira Aerospace of the United Arab Emirates, providing full engineering and technical support throughout the process. Mira Aerospace is a joint venture between Bayanat, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company G42, and Uavos.
One of the core objectives of this test flight was to verify the performance of the jointly developed electro-optical gyroscope-stabilized airborne pod (POD), specifically by acquiring imagery data in the 3,000-12,000 meter altitude range. During the test flight, the pod successfully captured high-resolution images with precise geolocation information at an altitude of 12,000 meters, with a maximum ground sampling distance (GSD) of 2 meters. The test flight, conducted in Abu Dhabi, UAE, lasted 48 hours.
This electro-optical gyroscope-stabilized airborne pod is equipped with an electronic module automatic temperature control system, enabling both heating and cooling to ensure stable operation even in extremely low stratospheric pressure environments, reaching temperatures as low as -70°C. The system's radio communication range exceeds 100 kilometers. The pod's gimbal optics have an observation angle range of ±90° and high-precision angle positioning capabilities. The pod's outer shell features an aerodynamically optimized design, resulting in an overall payload weight of only 3.6 kg.
This electro-optical system integrates a GSTIR thermal imaging camera and a Phase One 150-megapixel camera. Both devices are specifically designed for aerial imaging scenarios, enabling distortion-free image transmission—a crucial feature for mapping applications.
To extend the operational range of this high-altitude pseudosatellite, the test flight also carried a data relay network based on ground-based modem repeaters, with a single repeater providing a signal coverage radius of up to 200 kilometers. Uavos founder and CEO Alexei Strassilatau stated that this data relay station test is preparation for commercial flight missions planned for Europe in the coming months.
Apsneo High-Altitude Pseudosatellite Project
Modern aerospace projects place extremely high demands on the technical sophistication of composite material solutions. The success of Mira Aerospace's 18-meter wingspan aircraft platform, developed under its high-altitude pseudosatellite project, lies in the organic combination of material selection, advanced manufacturing processes, and optimized production workflows, ultimately achieving multiple goals: lightweight yet high-strength, high reliability, and low-cost mass production.
The project's core objectives include:
Developing and applying composite material technologies that meet strength, stiffness, and lightweight requirements.
Ensuring product consistency and quality stability throughout the entire production cycle.
Employing advanced technologies and equipment to shorten development cycles and reduce production costs.
Ensuring the safety and reliability of finished components under actual operating conditions.
The core components of Apsneau are constructed using a variety of high-performance composite materials: the main structure uses high-modulus carbon fiber, achieving lightweight while ensuring structural strength; the sandwich structure uses low-density polymethacrylamide (PMI) core material, combining excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability; the prepreg composite materials are customized by the supplier according to project requirements, featuring low adhesive content and adjustable density and stiffness.
The composite material components of this aircraft are all manufactured using an autoclave molding process: using carbon fiber prepreg molds as the molding base, curing is completed under conditions of 120~180℃ temperature and 5~8 bar pressure. These process parameters ensure that the composite material components form an ideal internal structure, meeting the design requirements for strength characteristics and interlayer bonding.