Solar-powered drones are about to be launched for 5 years

As far as you can understand, the company Titan Aerospace has created a “solar” Solara 50 drone, capable of staying in the air for not a week or a month, but for five whole years. At the same time, the device will not just “hang” in the air, but will carry out socially useful activities, including aerial photography. Such a survey will be conducted from a height of about 20 kilometers, so that someone can see in this the intention to spy. In general, the project is quite open, so it is unlikely that all of this will begin work with an exclusively "spy" purpose.

The device, in addition to its weight, can take on a flight another 31 kilograms of additional load, including scientific equipment. Despite the fact that the UAV is powered by solar panels, the device can fly at night, thanks to the capacious batteries. It is also worth noting that the Solara 50 uses a large engine with one propeller.

The developers, by the way, explained why the height of 20 kilometers (plus minus 4-5 kilometers) was chosen as the working height. The fact is that at such a height, UAV photocells will always be open to sunlight, clouds, except transparent pearlescent and silver (very rare in addition) at this height does not happen. And there are no strong winds, which are usual for the lower layers of the atmosphere. So the drone without any problems will be able to stay at a given height with the help of one of its propellers.

As far as you can understand, the device is capable of performing custom-made aerial photography, and such work will cost very cheap: about five dollars per square kilometer, although usually a satellite’s photograph of the square kilometer of the planet’s surface costs several times more (from $ 35 and more).

Perhaps the Solara 50 can also perform the work of a “network cell”, providing communications with a region of 60 kilometers in diameter (here you can recall a project from Google, where it is planned to provide remote regions with access to the Network through balloons).

Now the developers have a plan to launch a larger UAV, the Solara 60. This UAV will be able to lift the payload by 115 kilograms, which is a lot.

The Solara 50 wingspan is also rather big, and is 50 meters. On the wings, on the upper surface, photocells are placed, there are only about 3 thousand of them (power up to 7 kW). The drone launches from the catapult, and lands directly on the "belly" covered with Kevlar.

Flight Solara 50 will take place next year.

Via wired