A technology company successfully test-launched one of its airships high above the New Mexico desert this week. The company, Sceye, hopes its airship will one day be able to improve internet connectivity and collect data on everything from industrial pollution to wildlife threats.

The airship launched on Tuesday. The test was meant to see whether the ship could reach the Earth’s stratosphere and stay there for a long period of time. The stratosphere is the upper layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. It begins around 11 kilometers above the Earth’s surface and ends about 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.