Stratospheric Platforms, with Mikkel Vestergaard (CEO of SCEYE)

Mikkel Vestergaard isn’t a typical aerospace founder. Before building solar-powered stratospheric airships, he spent two decades in humanitarian innovation, distributing a billion malaria nets, co-creating the LifeStraw, and helping eradicate Guinea worm disease. Now, as CEO of Sceye, he’s applying that same ethos to aerospace. In this conversation, Mikkel dives deep into the origins, design, and future of High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS). We explore why the stratosphere is emerging as a new layer of infrastructure, filling the gap between satellites and towers, and how Sceye’s helium-filled, solar-powered airships could reshape internet connectivity, earth observation, and national security. We cover: Why Mikkel pivoted from global health to aerospace The engineering that makes persistent stratospheric flight possible How Sceye closes the “power loop” to stay aloft for months Commercial applications from telecom to methane detection Strategic partnerships with SoftBank, América Móvil, and Mawarid The defense potential of HAPS The business model behind “infrastructure as a service” What it takes to build investor conviction around a platform that feels left-field • Chapters • 00:00 – Intro 01:52 – Life before Sceye 02:51 – Work at Lifestraw 06:31 – What is Lifestraw? 07:50 – Making the pivot from global health to aerospace and working at Sceye 10:52 – HAPS or High-Altitude Platform Systems 12:25 – Why choose a balloon over a fixed wing aircraft? 14:04 – Types of payloads 16:06 – Not Hindenburg 2.0 16:48 – How Mikkel's earlier material science experience shaped Sceye's design decisions 18:09 – Pitching Sceye to investors 19:16 – Common misconceptions of stratospheric platforms 20:41 – What can HAPS do for the telecommunications industry? 25:03 – How many HAPS would we need to provide global coverage? 25:24 – Sceye's equity investor partners 26:00 – When Sceye will be fully commercialized 28:34 – Other use cases 31:33 – Advantages over satellites 32:34 – National security use cases 33:31 – The business model of HAPS 34:52 – Sceye's next iteration of customers 35:40 – How Sceye is building their team 36:56 – Manufacturing process and scaling 37:53 – Capital to scale 38:25 – What keeps Mikkel up at night 39:38 – What does success to Sceye look like • Show notes • SCEYE’s website — https://sceye.com/ Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Ignition’s socials — https://twitter.com/ignitionnuclear / https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/ Tectonic’s socials — https://twitter.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/ Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/ • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com