A new concept of a near-contact gas seal is experimentally investigated. A simulated gas face seal for a high-speed gas turbine engine is used for the investigation. A baseline conventional contacting-type seal is compared with an identical seal that was laser surface textured (LST) to turn it into a near-contact gas seal. Results show the potential benefits of the new concept in terms of smoother running, lower friction torque, and lower face temperature at 12,000 RPM over a range of face loading.