Airbus to build new solar-powered unmanned planes

Airbus has unveiled plans to manufacture a solar plane which will fly unmanned high above the sky.  

The new Zephyr S plane will be built in the UK and provide surveillance and monitoring services to complement traditional satellites, but at a lower level.

The plane will be able to fly for weeks at a time above weather conditions and conventional air traffic, directly harnessing the sun’s rays to remain aloft.

To date, the Zephyr programme has been in a stage of development and prototypes have clocked up over 1,000 hours of flying time. Its maiden industrial flight took place this week from the US state of Arizona and a landing date has yet to be confirmed.

Sophie Thomas, head of the programme, commented: “Zephyr will bring new see, sense and connect capabilities to both military and commercial customers. Zephyr will provide the potential to revolutionise disaster management, including monitoring the spread of wildfires or oil spills. It provides persistent surveillance, tracing the world’s changing environmental landscape and will be able to provide communications to the most unconnected parts of the world.”

The innovative plane weighs less than 75kg and has a wing span of 25 meters. It will be controlled remotely and fly at heights of 70,000 feet, or 13 miles, above ground.

Commercial scale production of the new solar planes will take place at a facility in Farnborough in the south of England. The site can reportedly make 30 of the planes at a time.

“The Zephyr S aircraft is demonstrably years ahead of any other comparable system and I am beyond proud of the Airbus team for their unrivalled success. Today we have created a new future for stratospheric flight”, said Dirk Hoke, Airbus’ Chief Executive Officer of Defence and Space.

In future, the planes will be launched from a site in Western Australia with flights slated for take-off from September.

 

Photo Credit: Airbus