A solar-powered aircraft operated by a UAE space technology company has launched a wildfire-monitoring mission in Spain, transmitting live images during a 29-hour flight over the Canary Islands.
The ApusNeo18 high-altitude platform took off from the Canarias Stratoport on Fuerteventura, an airfield for pseudo-satellites, and reached a height of 16,000 feet (4,875 metres) during the first flight of the campaign.
Equipped with electro-optical and infrared sensors, it delivered live, high-resolution video and images that can help authorities detect fires and monitor how they spread.
Mira Aerospace, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Space 42, said the flight set two European records for high-altitude platform systems – for duration in the air and highest altitude.
Further flights are planned next month in partnership with space services company, Telespazio Iberica. The plan is that the aircraft will gradually fly higher and farther, with the eventual aim of reaching Gran Canaria.
The mission comes after a severe wildfire season in Spain. More than 265,000 hectares of forest had been burnt by August 17, the country’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge said, with 42 large forest fires recorded.
High-altitude platform systems (Hap) operate as a conventional aircraft-satellite hybrid. They can fly above a particular area for extended periods and carry sensors selected for specific missions.
For emergency services, the technology can provide sustained surveillance and live information to supplement data gathered by satellites, aircraft and teams on the ground.
Khaled Al Marzooqi, chief executive of Mira Aerospace, said the mission demonstrated the company’s ability to support major international projects.
“The ongoing mission moves ApusNeo18 into sustained deployment, combining persistent monitoring with real-time data delivery to Telespazio Iberica, offering a clearer view of evolving conditions,” he said.
Carlos Fernandez de la Pena, chief executive of Telespazio Iberica, said the flights demonstrated Haps technology was moving beyond testing towards operational use.
“This campaign strengthens Telespazio Iberica’s role in developing new aerospace capabilities in Europe and opens up new possibilities for improving wildfire prevention, surveillance and emergency response,” he said.
In June, three cutting-edge UAE satellites primed to accelerate disaster response operations and boost the fight against climate change went fully operational.
The trio of satellites, called Foresight-3, Foresight-4 and Foresight-5, harness advanced radar technology to capture high-resolution images of the Earth's surface in all conditions, day or night.
They were launched into orbit in November 2025 by Abu Dhabi-based Space42 aboard a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida, expanding Space42's Foresight Earth Observation constellation to five synthetic aperture radar satellites.
