The interest in HAPS is increasing in many areas, from military and security to commercial services. On the telecommunications side, HAPS are seen as relays to provide internet services worldwide, and as a possible complement to satellites. On the Earth observation side, the near-space location of the HAPS enables new services or could improve the existing satellite ones. From the satellite or from the HAPS market sides, it is important to understand how both systems can offer complementary services, and what the possible synergies between them are.

The main objectives of this study were to identify the telecommunications and Earth observation services where the HAPS system may bring added value in performance or cost, compared to satellite or terrestrial ones, to highlight gaps in HAPS technologies and to propose a development plan and a roadmap to proceed towards an operational service in the next five years.