Will be able to hover at an altitude of 20 km (12 miles)
Will be able to hover at an altitude of 20 km (12 miles)
Satellites may be very useful for communications, navigation and other applications, but they’re awfully expensive to build and launch, and once they’re in orbit … well, there’s no reusing them. That’s why a consortium led by Thales Alenia Space is developing the StratoBus. It’s a planned autonomous airship that can be launched like a regular blimp, but that will be able to hover at an altitude of 20 km (12 miles) – that’s up in the stratosphere, hence the name.
According to the company, the StratoBus will be 70 to 100 meters long (230 to 328 ft), and 20 to 30 meters (66 to 98 ft) in width. Its envelope will be made mainly of UV-resistant woven carbon fiber, and its two fuel cell-powered prop motors will allow it to maintain its position, even when subjected to winds blowing at up to 90 km/h (56 mph).
The fuel cell will be located in its nacelle (the bottom part, that sits where the gondola would be on a manned airship), along with an electrolyzer for obtaining hydrogen from an onboard water supply, plus its communications and other electronics. Different nacelles will be swapped on and off of one airship body between missions, as each one will be specially outfitted for its intended purpose. Payloads of up to 200 lb (91 kg) will be possible.
The electrolyzer will be solar-powered. Sunlight will stream into the airship’s “balloon” through a transparent section of the envelope, then reflect off an internal concentrating mirror, and onto a row of solar panels. That section will be able to stay aligned with the sun, as the balloon will rotate relative to the rest of the vehicle.
The Latest on: StratoBus
[google_news title=”” keyword=”StratoBus” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: StratoBus
- Thales collaborates with EuroHAPS on demo projecton March 17, 2023 at 7:09 am
The project will conduct flight demonstrations for three types of complementary stratospheric platforms: A reduced-scale Stratobus from Thales Alenia Space, a solar-powered airship designed for ...
- Thales Alenia Space wins EU airship demonstration contracton March 17, 2023 at 6:47 am
The project will conduct flight demonstrations for three different stratospheric platforms: A ‘reduced-scale’ Stratobus – a solar-powered high-altitude airship – from Thales Alenia Space. A Hybrid ...
- Thales wins HAPS contract from ECon March 14, 2023 at 12:00 am
The project will conduct flight demonstrations for three types of complementary stratospheric platforms: A reduced-scale Stratobus from Thales Alenia Space, a solar-powered airship designed for ...
- French Air and Space Force Event Examines New Challenges Occurring at High Altitudeson March 13, 2023 at 7:50 am
On January 9th, the French Air and Space Force (FASF) held an event that examined emerging high-altitude challenges.
- European Commission invests in high-altitude platformson March 9, 2023 at 9:42 am
Stratobus, developed by Thales Alenia Space, is a non-rigid stratospheric airship with fully autonomous electric propulsion. The concept has been optimised around a 140 m long airship that ...
- Stratospheric EuroHAPS programme kicks offon March 9, 2023 at 2:38 am
Under development since 2016 at Thales Alenia Space, Stratobus is the solar powered stratospheric airship at the core of the programme. According to TAS, its design has been optimised around an ...
via Bing News
