25.08.2024
Sceye's high-altitude airship completed a more than 24-hour flight into the stratosphere after its launch.
The company, which is based in New Mexico, says the High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) flight was the first long-duration flight its airship has made into the stratosphere while remaining over a designated area of operation.
“This is a critical milestone for long-duration flights of months or years using solar power through the day and battery capacity that enables overnight flight through solar recharging the next morning,” Sceye said. 19. The demonstration flight also showed that the airship was capable of controlled relocation, the company says.
The 270-foot-long HAPS airship uses a solar panel on its top to generate electricity during the day and lithium-sulfur batteries to store that electricity. Batteries power a tail-mounted electric propeller.
“[...] It opens up vast opportunities in the stratosphere, building an entirely new layer of infrastructure between drones and satellites,” said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of Sceye, in a direct translation. “The ability to remain in the stratosphere for extended periods in an area of operation provides a unique vantage point for detecting real-time weather disasters such as wildfires and methane leaks, as well as connectivity to the billions of people disconnected by conventional infrastructure. they cannot serve.”
The airship carried payloads including stereo-optical cameras designed to create elevation models to observe disasters such as floods and earthquakes, infrared cameras to help predict and detect wildfires as well as detect methane leaks, and a synthetic aperture radar. , says Sceye.
Sceye says it has completed 20 test flights so far with its airship, with two additional test flights planned for 2024.
Company Sceye is a manufacturer of high-altitude airships, capable of flying continuously at 65.000ft. Among the possibilities of returning to flight in the stratosphere, as described in this news, the aircraft can also be directed to a specific area, connecting a community with the internet, thus promoting health and educational benefits.
Quelle: AEROFLAP