High-altitude flight is getting increasing attention from sectors ranging from telecommunications to emergency response. To make that airspace more accessible, NASA is developing an air traffic management system covering those altitudes and supplementing its work with real-time data from a research balloon in Earth's stratosphere.
Aircraft at high altitudes - 50,000 feet or higher, or roughly 10,000 to 20,000 feet above most commercial traffic - offer new possibilities for delivering internet connectivity in regions in need of reliable service. And they can deliver unprecedented situational awareness for the ground below, providing early warnings for floods and other disasters.
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Business News
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.