The Odysseus is a

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

High-Altitude Long Endurance A high-altitude platform station (HAPS, which can also mean high-altitude pseudo-satellite or high-altitude platform systems), also known as atmospheric satellite, is a long endurance, high altitude aircraft able to offer observation or communi ...

drone developed by

Aurora Flight Sciences Aurora Flight Sciences (AFS) is an American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing that specializes in special-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles. Aurora's headquarters is at Manassas Regional Airport. History In 1989, AFS was ...

Development

announced the Odysseus in November 2018. In spring 2019, Aurora planned to fly a

drone powered by solar cells and batteries, Odysseus, to study the

Earth atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weather ...

or as a military pseudo-satellite for

intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ISTAR stands for Military intelligence, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, #ISTAR, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employ ...

. The 74.1 m (243 ft) wide

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

aircraft should weigh less than a

Smart Car Smart (stylized in lowercase) is a German automotive brand, marque established in 1994. Smart Automobile Co., Ltd. is a joint venture established by Mercedes-Benz AG and Geely, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2019 and aimed at producing Smart-bad ...

, can carry a 25 kg (55 lb) payload with 250W provided during several months of endurance. It would compete with the

Airbus Zephyr The Zephyr is a series of high-altitude platform station aircraft produced by Airbus. They were designed originally by QinetiQ, a commercial offshoot of the UK Ministry of Defence. In July 2010, the Zephyr 7 flew for 14 days. In March 2013, th ...

ordered by the

UK Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ...

and visited by the

U.S. Army Futures Command The United States Army Futures Command (AFC) is a United States Army command that runs modernization projects. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The AFC began initial operations on 1 July 2018. It was created as a peer of Forces Command (FO ...

, the

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

- Prismatic Ltd UAV, and the

AeroVironment AeroVironment, Inc. is an American Arms industry, defense contractor headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Paul MacCready, Paul B. MacCready Jr., a designer of human-powered aircraft, ...

SoftBank is a Japanese multinational Investment company, investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, that focuses on investment management. The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services ...

telecommunications UAV. The bendable wing has

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

upper skin panels and plastic film undersides, three tails and six propellers, with roll controlled by the outboard tails. It used available, low-risk,

lithium polymer batteries A lithium polymer battery, or more correctly, lithium-ion polymer battery (abbreviated as LiPo, LIP, Li-poly, lithium-poly, and others), is a rechargeable battery derived from lithium-ion battery, lithium-ion and lithium-metal battery technology ...

and

gallium arsenide Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a III-V direct band gap semiconductor with a Zincblende (crystal structure), zinc blende crystal structure. Gallium arsenide is used in the manufacture of devices such as microwave frequency integrated circuits, monoli ...

thin-film solar cell Thin-film solar cells are a type of solar cell made by depositing one or more thin layers (thin films or TFs) of photovoltaic material onto a substrate, such as glass, plastic or metal. Thin-film solar cells are typically a few nanometers (nan ...

s and first test flights were to be powered by batteries only. It was designed to stay day and night above up to three months at latitudes up to 20°. First flight was planned for April 2019 in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, before investigating

ozone depletion Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a lowered total amount of ozone in Earth, Earth's upper atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar ...

in the summer over the US Midwest. Its first flight was indefinitely delayed by July 2019.

References

External links

* * * * {{cite news , url= http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/closer-look-aurora-s-solar-stratospheric-odysseus , title= A Closer Look At Aurora's Solar Stratospheric Odysseus , date= Nov 22, 2018 , author= Graham Warwick , work= Aviation Week & Space Technology Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Aurora Flight Sciences aircraft Electric aircraft

Development

See also

References

External links