Eco Factor: Geostationary airship for DARPA will get power for onboard solar panels.
Researchers have long touted the idea of replacing expensive space-based satellites and Aircraft Mounted Airborne Warning And Control Systems (AWACS) with low-cost and much more agile platforms that can be located within the atmosphere of the planet. However, none of the plans ever made it to reality until now, when DARPA has ordered U.S. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin to develop a geostationary airship which should remain aloft for 10 years without a recharge.
DAPRA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has given a $400 million contract to Lockheed Martin to design, build, test and fly a 1:3 scale model of an airship surveillance and telecommunications platform called the High Altitude Airship (HAA). The un-tethered geostationary airship will be filled with helium to enable it to patrol the skies from the jet stream, which is about 21km from the surface of the Earth. From that height the airship’s scale model should be able to operate for 90 days while surveying a 600-mile diameter area and deliver information to the ground control periodically.
If the tests are successful, the company will develop the full scale airship, which will be powered by a 15KW solar array mounted on its roof. The solar generators will power all onboard systems and also recharge a 40KWh Li-ion battery pack used to power its 2KW lightweight all-electric propulsion system.
Via: Gizmag
