In the wake of the environmental disasters and international unrest of the last decade, it has become apparent that we must be prepared to mobilize and provide secondary emergency network access so that first responders can effectively rescue civilians and so that nations in crisis are not isolated from the rest of the world.

At STAR-H Corporation, we wish to aid in the effort, and so we have been developing antenna systems for effective distribution of 3G and WiFi telecommunication networks from the sky on high-altitude mobile platforms such as balloons, dirigible airships, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). These platforms, coupled with our antennas designed for high-powered, data network radios, could provide celular and internet access in such emergency situations.

STAR-H has explored and is developing several solutions for rado repeaters and mobile access points on different types of platforms, including:

• Suspended antennas for ballon gondolas
• Fabric-embedded systems for dirigible airships
• External and wing-embedded systems for UAVs