SoftBank obtains Project Loon patents from Alphabet

SoftBank has acquired a number of patents from Alphabet’s now-defunct Loon high altitude balloon project and will be using them to further its own HAPSMobile subsidiary.

The Japanese company has acquired approximately 200 patents (including patents pending) for High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) from Alphabet Inc.'s Loon LLC. The patents are related to network technologies, services, operations, and aircraft for HAPS. In January Google's parent company said it was closing down its Loon subsidiary, saying that the project hadn’t found a way to lower costs enough to build a long-term, sustainable business.

Loon raised $125 million from SoftBank in 2019, but the telco had also set up its own HAPS firm before that.

HAPSMobile is developing a solar-powered fixed-wing HAPS platform from which to offer connectivity services. The company has done five successful test flights of a 78m wingspan drone and aims to begin commercial operations – mostly in the form of wholesale services to operators – around 2023.

SoftBank said it and HAPSMobile will collectively own around 500 HAPS-related patents, including patents pending, once the deal is completed.

The companies said they will utilize the expanded patent portfolio to accelerate preparations for commercial HAPS services, as well as promote standardization and interoperability in the HAPS industry.

Alphabet's X Labs has also announced a non-assertion pledge for the free use of 270 patents and applications related to launching, navigation, fleet management, and more to support further work in the field. It also said high-altitude balloon developer Raven Aerostar was taking over a number of patents.

Project Loon began as a ‘moonshot’ idea under Google’s X skunkworks lab in 2011 before being spun out in a separate business unit under parent company Alphabet in 2018. The aim was to use high-altitude balloons in the stratosphere at an altitude of 18-25 km (11-16 miles) and create an aerial wireless network to deliver the Internet to remote and rural communities.