The flight test is being organised by Japan Stratosphere Communications, which is participating in a Japanese government-supported HAP project and the €6 million ($7.6 million) European Union Sixth Framework research project Capanina.

Powered by hydrogen fuel cells driving electric motors, the Global Observer made its first flights last year.

The test later this year will be the culmination of Capanina's research, which aimed to develop a high-altitude airship able to provide broadband internet service to stationary and moving users at rates up to 120Mb/s.

"We are still planning for [the Aerovironment] flight in the USA," says Capanina principal scientific officer David Grace, a senior research fellow in the University of York electronics department's communications research group, and a member of the High Altitude Platforms for Communications and Other Services (HAPCOS) group.

HAPCOS is a European Commission-supported network of organisations developing HAP payload technology.

Many of its members are involved in the Capanina project, which has 13 partners, including its Japanese participants. Grace expects an application for EU Seventh Framework research funding will be submitted to continue Capanina's work.