After a Solar Plane, Solar Drones?

Now that Solar Impulse’s technology has demonstrated that unlimited endurance is possible for an airplane, I am now keen to start developing future applications.

NASA Pathfinder was the first fuel-cell-system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles

Think about an aircraft capable of flying at high altitudes for months at a time! And of course, by definition, this would be unmanned. Often referred to as drones, they could replace satellites or complement what they do in terms of observation and communication.

We could have an unmanned airplane using the sun as the only source of energy, capable of flying at least 6 months non-stop above the traffic of airliners in the stratosphere, above the storm clouds and rain where the air is calm.

This airplane could go up and come down every 6 months replaced by another one to continue to mission cycle. With each flight, the equipment could be replaced, upgraded and specifically adapted to the needs of the mission.

Full flexibility and full sustainability. The dream! On top of it no pollution and no left overs in space!

André Borschberg (find me on twitter)

Vote now for your favorite solution for #COP21 Paris Climate Conference.

This blog post has been originally published here on the 18/11/2015