Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Veterans
Related: About this forumThe drone that may never have to land
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/08/23/solara-drone/?iid=HP_LNThese long-endurance 'atmospheric satellites' could continuously fly for up to five years, monitor traffic and patrol borders.
The drone that may never have to land
August 23, 2013: 5:00 AM ET
By Clay Dillow
FORTUNE -- While much of the nascent civilian unmanned aircraft industry looks at ways to optimize small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for specific tasks such facility security, infrastructure inspection, or precision agriculture, a New Mexico-based aerospace startup is thinking bigger and longer-term.
Titan Aerospace, a one-year-old venture-backed aircraft designer, last week unveiled its Solara 50 and Solara 60 unmanned aircraft. These are two massive solar-powered, high-altitude vehicles the company plans to send aloft for weeks, months, and eventually years at a time without ever having to land.
Titan doesn't refer to these concept aircraft as "drones" or by the industry-preferred "unmanned aerial system," but instead calls them "atmospheric satellites" for their ability to remain aloft for extended periods of time just as orbital satellites do. The company hopes to provide a sub-$2 million platform that governments, private industry, and research institutions can put high into the atmosphere for extended periods of time for a fraction of the cost of a space satellite.
The idea is that an atmospheric satellite can conduct most of the same operations as an orbital one: atmospheric observation and weather monitoring, communications relay, oceanographic research, and earth imaging. Other operations are impractical for space satellites, such as border security, maritime traffic monitoring and anti-piracy operations, disaster response, or agricultural observation. And with continuous flight time of up to five years, Solara's aircraft would have endurance on par with many small satellites, making them a more attractive option for a range of these applications (not to mention that if a sensor or instrument goes down, you can land and relaunch).
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 1731 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (1)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The drone that may never have to land (Original Post)
unhappycamper
Aug 2013
OP
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)1. Canada has a broadcast airplane that is powered by microwave RF beamed at it from the ground
It stays aloft for months. It has to broadcast over a huge area, so it needs a lot of "power". Solar would not work at latitudes near 60 degrees north, since it can be dark for 18 hours/day in December.
unhappycamper
(60,364 posts)2. Thanks for the RF drone information. n/t