Mira Aerospace
Table of Contents

⚠ Disclaimer: This entry may be incomplete, out of date, or inaccurate. It is AI-maintained on a best-effort basis. Do not rely on it as a sole source — verify claims independently using the sources listed below.

Summary

Mira Aerospace is an Abu Dhabi, UAE-based company building solar-electric High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) aircraft under the “Apus” family name, most recently the ApusNeo18. Originally formed as a joint venture between US-based unmanned-systems developer UAVOS and Emirati geospatial company Bayanat, Mira Aerospace is now a subsidiary of Space42, the UAE space-tech company created by the 2024 merger of Bayanat and satellite operator Yahsat. In May 2025 Mira Aerospace opened what it describes as the MENA region’s first HAPS manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi, and in December 2025 it flew what Space42 says was the first HAPS flight with civilian operational approval in Europe.

Key Facts

  • Founded: Joint venture between UAVOS and Bayanat, first reported publicly around 2023 (test flights date to at least June 2023); restructured as a Space42 subsidiary following the 2024 Bayanat–Yahsat merger.
  • HQ: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
  • Type: Subsidiary of Space42 (a publicly listed, UAE-based AI/space-tech company formed from the Bayanat–Yahsat merger); originally a UAVOS–Bayanat joint venture.
  • Status: Active / pre-commercial, conducting demonstration and test flights internationally; commercialization targeted from 2025 per earlier company statements.
  • Aircraft (ApusNeo18): 18-metre wingspan, 12-metre length, just over 45 kg mass, operating altitude 13–20 km (~43,000–65,600 ft).
  • Earlier aircraft (ApusDuo): 15-metre wingspan, ~43 kg maximum take-off weight, reached 16,686 m (~54,700 ft) altitude, tested in Rwanda in June 2023 during a 10.5-hour flight carrying a 3.6 kg payload.
  • Manufacturing: 4,500 m² HAPS manufacturing facility opened in Abu Dhabi in May 2025, designed to produce more than 20 HAPS UAVs annually.

What It Is / How It Works

Mira Aerospace’s HAPS aircraft are large, lightweight, solar-powered fixed-wing platforms designed to operate in the stratosphere (roughly 13–20 km altitude), above conventional air traffic and weather, positioning them as a middle layer between conventional UAVs and satellites. According to the company, HAPS aircraft offer greater endurance and geographic coverage than UAVs, and — compared with satellites — better image resolution, communications security, maneuverability, deployment ease and cost, while being reusable across multiple flights.

The company’s current platform, ApusNeo18, has an 18-metre wingspan, a 12-metre length, and weighs just over 45 kg. It is designed to fly continuously for months, carrying payloads for telecommunications (acting as a stratospheric network tower, addressing coverage gaps, emergency connectivity and network security), Earth observation (high-resolution imagery, video and persistent monitoring for environmental tracking, surveillance and border protection), and RF sensing. Mira Aerospace states it was the first company to demonstrate 5G connectivity from the stratosphere using a heavier-than-air HAPS platform, per Space42’s own account (not independently verified against a neutral third party in this research session).

Mira Aerospace traces its origins to a joint venture between UAVOS, a California-based unmanned-systems developer, and Bayanat, an Abu Dhabi-based AI-powered geospatial analytics company that was, at the time, part of the G42 group. Early testing used the smaller ApusDuo platform (15-metre wingspan), which completed a 10.5-hour test flight reaching 16,686 metres altitude in Rwanda in June 2023. In 2024, Bayanat merged with Yahsat (Al Yah Satellite Communications Company) to form Space42, a UAE-based, AI-powered space-technology company; Mira Aerospace now operates as a Space42 subsidiary, drawing on Space42’s broader satellite communications and geospatial-intelligence portfolio.

In May 2025, Mira Aerospace opened a 4,500 m² HAPS manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi — described as the first such facility in the MENA region — with capacity to produce more than 20 HAPS UAVs per year, explicitly framed by Space42 and Abu Dhabi officials as advancing the UAE’s National Space Strategy 2030 and sovereign aerospace manufacturing capability.

Notable Developments

  • December 2025: Mira Aerospace flew the ApusNeo18 from Fuerteventura Technology Park, Spain, collecting wildfire-prevention data as part of the ISSEC program (a joint venture between Telespazio Ibérica and Pegasus Aero Group). Space42 said this was the first HAPS flight with civilian operational approval in Europe.
  • November 2025: Mira Aerospace demonstrated its first UAE flight of the ApusNeo18.
  • May 2025: Opened a 4,500 m² HAPS manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi, MENA’s first, with capacity for 20+ HAPS UAVs annually.
  • February 2025: Partnered with XRANGE, a multi-domain training/testing/evaluation facility, to establish a permanent HALE UAV testing hub.
  • October 2024: Developed two advanced payloads (Earth observation and telecommunications) to support environmental monitoring, disaster management, urban planning, agriculture, and direct-to-device connectivity applications.
  • 2024: Bayanat merged with Yahsat to form Space42; Mira Aerospace transitioned from a UAVOS–Bayanat joint venture to a Space42 subsidiary.
  • June 2023: Completed a 10.5-hour ApusDuo test flight reaching 16,686 m altitude at Huye Aerodrome, Rwanda, using three temporary artificial-grass runways.

Key People

Khaled Al Marzooqi — Chief Executive Officer, Mira Aerospace (Space42) LinkedIn: https://ae.linkedin.com/in/khaled-hamood-ali-almarzooqi (found via search; not independently fetched this session to confirm profile content) Previous roles: Not independently confirmed this session — public reporting consistently identifies him as CEO of Mira Aerospace without detailing prior employers. ⚑ Overlap: None identified this session beyond his current role; no confirmed prior HALE/HAPS or major aerospace employer found.

Vadim Tarasov — Board Member, Mira Aerospace (representing UAVOS); Chairman of the Board, UAVOS Inc.; Managing Partner, Advanced Autonomous Solutions Fund LinkedIn: https://hk.linkedin.com/in/vadimtarasov Previous/concurrent roles: Chairman of the Board, UAVOS Inc.; investor and advisor to Webgears; independent board member, Light Polymers. ⚑ Overlap: UAVOS, the unmanned-systems developer that co-founded Mira Aerospace as a joint venture with Bayanat and continues to develop the Apus HAPS platform family alongside Mira Aerospace.

People — Last Reviewed: 2026-08-03

Claim Verification

Claim: Mira Aerospace is a subsidiary of Space42, which was formed by the 2024 merger of Bayanat and Yahsat. Status: Verified Supporting sources: Mira Aerospace’s own “About Us” page (miraaerospace.com); Via Satellite; The National; Abu Dhabi Media Office Refuting/questioning sources: None found Summary: Multiple independently fetched sources, including Mira Aerospace’s own site, consistently describe the company as a Space42 subsidiary and Space42 as the Bayanat–Yahsat merger entity.

Claim: Mira Aerospace’s December 2025 Fuerteventura flight was the first HAPS flight with civilian operational approval in Europe. Status: Partially verified Supporting sources: Via Satellite (Space42 company statement, relayed by an independent trade publication) Refuting/questioning sources: None found, but this is a claim attributed to Space42 itself rather than independently confirmed by aviation regulators or a neutral party in sources reviewed this session. Summary: The claim is reported by an independent industry publication, but it originates from the company’s own characterization (“Space42 said”) rather than an independently verifiable regulatory source; treat the “first” claim with some caution.

Claim: Mira Aerospace’s HAPS platform can sustain flight for “months at a time.” Status: Unverified (stated design capability, not demonstrated in sources reviewed) Supporting sources: Mira Aerospace’s own website (miraaerospace.com) Refuting/questioning sources: None found, but the longest specific flight duration confirmed in sources reviewed this session is 10.5 hours (ApusDuo, Rwanda, 2023); no multi-day or multi-week ApusNeo18 flight was found documented in this research. Summary: As with other HAPS developers, “months” of endurance appears to be a design target rather than a flight-demonstrated result based on the sources available this session.

Sources

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