A solar-powered drone, the ApusNeo, has reached an altitude of 47,600 feet during a 29-hour flight over the Canary Islands, operating entirely on stored solar energy through the night. UAVOS said the October flight focused on altitude, after endurance had come first.
The October 16 flight departed from the Canarias Stratoport at the Fuerteventura Technology Park. UAVOS founder and CEO Aliaksei Stratsilatau said the 47,600-foot ceiling was set by airspace restrictions coordinated with Spain's air navigation manager ENAIRE, rather than the aircraft's own limits.
The ApusNeo is the single-wing successor to the company's tandem-wing ApusDuo, with a wingspan of 59 feet. The aircraft weighs up to 104 pounds at takeoff, and a reinforced version can carry a payload of up to 7.5 pounds. On this flight the payload was an Earth observation pod with a high-resolution camera and infrared sensors capable of sending images to the ground in real time. For wildfire duty, the infrared capability is key, as it detects heat rather than smoke.
According to CATEC, two flights from the same stratoport in September lasted 29 and 52 hours nonstop. UAVOS said the ApusNeo was back in the air and had logged more than 80 hours on that flight, with 100 hours as the goal. Noticias Fuerteventura reported it should land on Saturday. The aircraft recharges its batteries via solar panels during the day and draws on that stored energy through the night.
The ApusNeo has not yet reached the altitude range for HAPS set out by the International Telecommunication Union, which places these platforms between 20 and 50 kilometres up. According to AALTO, its Zephyr reached 76,100 feet and stayed aloft for 67 days in 2025. UAVOS says its earlier ApusDuo reached 54,744 feet in a 2023 test in Rwanda. SoftBank, developing its own Sunglider platform, has pointed to short winter days as a challenge for year-round flights.
UAVOS, a technology partner of Mira Aerospace, the HAPS subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's Space42, is ready to prepare the aircraft for future missions and fit it with more advanced payloads, Stratsilatau said.
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Maximum altitude of solar-powered drones
feet
ApusNeo's ceiling was limited by airspace restrictions, not aircraft capability. Source: New Atlas
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Analysis
Why This Matters
Persistent solar-powered high-altitude platforms could offer continuous, low-cost surveillance for disaster monitoring, bridging a gap between short-duration drones and satellites that pass over only briefly.
The steady progression of endurance flight times signals the technology is approaching operational viability for missions such as wildfire detection.
As climate change intensifies wildfire seasons globally, the specific application tested in the Canary Islands could serve as a template for firefighting agencies worldwide.
Background
High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) are designed to operate in the stratosphere for long periods, acting as pseudo-satellites. UAVOS has iterated on its Apus platform over several years, fielding the ApusDuo in Rwanda and now the refined ApusNeo from its Canary Islands test base. The company is connected to Mira Aerospace, a HAPS subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's Space42.
Key Perspectives
UAVOS: says the recent flight altitude was limited by airspace coordination, not airframe capability, and that the aircraft has significant untapped potential in both endurance and altitude. The company is focused on transitioning from test flights to operational demonstrations.
AALTO (Airbus Zephyr): holds the current industry benchmark for HAPS performance, having demonstrated sustained multi-month stratospheric flight well above 60,000 feet.
SoftBank: has publicly highlighted the constraint that short winter daylight hours present for solar aircraft, representing a fundamental physics challenge to year-round operations in the category.
What to Watch
Whether the ApusNeo successfully completes its current 100-hour endurance target.
Whether UAVOS seeks flight clearance to altitudes above 50,000 feet to fully enter the ITU-defined HAPS band.
The signing of any trial contracts for wildfire monitoring with emergency services in the Canary Islands or beyond.