mandag 19. august 2013

UAV - Ny kategori XX - Extra long Endurance at Extreme altitude

AUVSI: Titan Aerospace unveils 

'atmospheric satellites'

  ZACH ROSENBERG WASHINGTON DC
12:00 13 Aug 2013 
Source: 
Titan Aerospace Solara 50 UAV Titan Aerospace


















Titan Aerospace has unveiled the Solara 50 and Solara 60,
two high-altitude solar-powered UAVs the company is calling
"atmospheric satellites". The aircraft are designed to fly up to
65,000ft (19,800m) altitude and remain there for up to weeks
at a time, sustained by a 50m wingspan and a single large
battery-powered propeller, itself powered by thousands of
high-efficiency solar cells placed on virtually every possible
surface. It is not the first multi-week "atmospheric satellite"
aircraft. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) initiated a programme to develop just such a
concept, resulting in AeroVironment's Global Observer,
which was unfortunately destroyed in a crash, and
QinetiQ's Zephyr, a demonstrator design for Boeing's
Vulture concept. Though the Solara programme is
unrelated, the programmes all share similar characteristics
- multi-year endurance and a 65,000ft operating altitude.
Between 60,000-70,000ft sits a "sweet spot", says Titan,
where the average winds are less than 5kts.
 Titan Aerospace 
The Solara 50 (above) and Solara 60 
high-altitude solar-powered UAVs are 
designed to fly up to 65,000ft altitude and 
remain there for up to weeks at a time 
The Solara will be launched with a catapult and cruise at
65,000ft at a maximum speed of around 60mph (97kmh), 
carrying a 70lb payloadfor up to five years before landing 
gently on its Kevlar-coated belly. Thepayload capacity varies 
greatly depending on the amount of available sunlight - 
operations during the longest days of the year could 
allowfor up to an additional 100lb payload, supplied with 
100 watts ofelectricity overnight and ranging into kilowatts 
during the day."We've been developing this for a number 
of years," says Max Yaney, who oversees technology 
aspects of the programme. "Obviously there are some 
very exciting programmes that have been attempted over 
theyears. This is the holy grail of edge-of-space access.... 
We've takenthe lessons learned from all of those 
programmes"."We make heavyuse of the latest and 
greatest composite materials and advancedcomposite 
techniques developed over recent years," Yaney 
continues."There are actually fantastic advances in 
composites that allow us to meet the strength and weight 
requirements. We employ the entire spectrum."A customer 
has reserved two Solara 50 aircraft to carry communications 
relay packages, but Titan declined to identify the
customer. The first aircraft is under construction, expected
to roll out in 2014

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