{"id":72609,"title":"HyLight 🎈 Hydrogen airships for long range monitoring","tagline":"We help utility companies inspect their infrastructure in a sustainable \u0026 cost-effective way.","body":"Hello everyone, we are [HyLight](https://www.hylight.aero/). We build small unmanned hydrogen airships to automatically gather massive amounts of precise data in a sustainable and cost-effective way.\n\n🚫 **The problem :**\n\nWe currently focus on:\n\n* 💨 Pipeline inspection to detect methane leaks (4% of global greenhouse gas emissions).\n* ⚡Power line inspection to prevent outages, reduce wildfire risks ($19 billion per year in the US), and ensure grid reliability.\n\nCurrent solutions (helicopters, airplanes, satellites and drones) are not adapted to make accurate, efficient and sustainable observations.\n\n✅ **Our solution** :\\\nOur solution is a crossover between drone and lighter than air technologies, using hydrogen as a lifting gas and power source.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=72609\u0026key=user_uploads/935793/71bfe7a3-7276-4501-a63f-19311f24fcb5)\n\nThis vehicle combines long range, high payload, and hovering capabilities\n\nWe have already built four prototypes, [two minimum viable products (MVPs)](https://youtu.be/MQLInmqLF7M), and are running a paid pilot with the largest power line company in Europe.\n\n🙏 **Our ask: How you can help**\n\n* **🤝 Refer:** If you know anyone that works in Oil\u0026Gas or utilities please connect us ([thomas@hylight.aero](mailto:thoma@hylight.aero)).\n* **📣 Share:** Share this post with your network.\n* **🔔 Follow:** Follow us on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/hylightaero).\n\nWe are building the perfect airborne platform to better observe, understand, and improve our world.\n\nJoin us for the flight!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=72609\u0026key=user_uploads/935793/56584ff9-a2da-41ab-985b-3a830e9f5f67)\n\n","slug":"It7-hylight-hydrogen-airships-for-long-range-monitoring","created_at":"2023-06-28T14:55:01.605Z","updated_at":"2026-05-25T01:50:39.777Z","total_vote_count":696,"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/It7-hylight-hydrogen-airships-for-long-range-monitoring","share_image_url":"//bookface-static.ycombinator.com/assets/ycdc/yc-og-image-c440a0ad1dacfb86eeeb343717479cc54d256614449b4ef719977a0a451f8bc8.png","company":{"id":28593,"name":"HyLight","slug":"hylight","url":"https://www.hylight.aero/","logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/17e115f6387d31c268302079d59ab1981c37d8ca.png","batch":"Summer 2023","industry":"Industrials","tags":["Hydrogen Energy","B2B","Climate","Energy","Aerospace"],"search_path":"https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/28593"}}