Britain’s cut-price response to Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink programmes is getting ready for lift-off, with stratospheric testing of near-space gliders to begin this summer.

Developed in Farnborough, Hampshire, and funded by Airbus, the solar-powered Zephyr, a so-called pseudo satellite, has been given the green light to begin testing in the Rift Valley in Kenya. Its wingspan is the breadth of an A380 Superjumbo, but the craft weighs less than an average British adult, depending on its payload.

If the project is a success, the aircraft would be ready to fulfil missions providing telecommunications or military surveillance. It could go on sale at $5 million a time, a fraction of the launch costs of rockets or the creation of satellite constellations.

After low-level test flights in the Arizona desert in recent weeks, Zephyr will move to Kenya for flights to above 60,000ft. Kenya has been chosen because of its benign weather conditions for ten months of the year.

If the tests are a success, Laikipia County, north of Nairobi, famed for its rhinoceros population, is likely to be chosen as the first base for the Zephyr, including a final assembly facility. Kenya is regarded as one of Africa’s most attractive jurisdictions for foreign direct investment because of its embrace of high-technology manufacturing and the green economy, a skilled workforce and its relative political stability.

The company in Farnborough producing the Zephyr is called Aalto Haps. Aalto is an Airbus-funded spinout and Haps stands for “high-altitude pseudo satellite”.

“Establishing a permanent launch and landing location has been a priority,” a company official said. “To facilitate the industrial and commercial road map of Zephyr, we need regular access to the stratosphere to finalise the development of the aircraft.

“After several months of engagement with the regulatory authorities, military and agencies across government, aviation, communications and space, Aalto has secured the necessary approvals to conduct experimental testing during the summer. This makes Kenya a pioneering first-mover on Haps technology.”

Aalto hopes that Zephyr will be useful in Africa for telecoms connectivity, border monitoring and environmental mapping.

The Zephyr is moving from prototype stage to industrialisation after a $100 million investment this month from a consortium of Japanese businesses and banks, a strategic partnership that is likely to be converted into an equity stake.

NTT Docomo, a Japanese telecoms group, plans to use the technology to enhance 5G mobile terrestrial connectivity, especially as back-up in emergencies such as the Fukushima nuclear accident and tsunami, as well as for earth observation at a time of rising tensions with China and North Korea, Japan’s neighbours.

The deal has been seen as a strengthening of industrial ties with Britain after Japan joined the consortium building Tempest, the UK’s next generation of fighter jets.