Zephyr solar UAV sets yet another flight record: 7 days and counting!
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted July 17th 2010 6:37PM
posted July 17th 2010 6:37PM
This certainly is an interesting time for solar powered flight. Solar Impulse just returned from a 26-hour manned test flight, and now QinetiQ's Zephyr, a drone who we last saw clocking over 83 hours in-flight is in the air again: this time, it's more like seven days and counting! The craft, which took off from the Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona last Friday, is being billed as an "eternal aircraft," one that can stay aloft for extremely long periods of time for use as recon and communications platforms. The previous world endurance record for a UAV was set by NASA's Global Hawk, which stayed aloft for 30 hours and 24 minutes.
QinetiQ's Zephyr solar powered unmanned aircraft soars to new world records
Zephyr soars to new world records
QinetiQ today (14:40 UK time on Friday 16 July) announced that Zephyr, the leading solar powered high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) Unmanned Air System (UAS) has been flying for the past week, smashing a number of long-standing world records.
Currently flying high above the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, Zephyr has already passed the seven day / 168 hour mark and the clock is still running. This DOUBLES the unofficial world record for longest duration unmanned flight of 82 hours, 37 minutes set in 2008 and already held by Zephyr, and is well in excess of the current official world record of 30 hours 24 minutes set by Northrop Grumman's RQ-4A Global Hawk on 22 March 2001.
As a bold statement of intent QinetiQ invited the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the world air sports federation, to oversee the flight and an FAI Official has been monitoring progress at the Yuma Proving Ground. Zephyr's world records will not become official until the aircraft is safely back on the ground.
The current goal is to fly for a further week and prove Zephyr is the world's first truly eternal plane, capable of providing a low-cost, persistent surveillance capability over months rather than days. Potential applications include earth observation and communications relay in support of a range of defence, security and commercial requirements.
The current Zephyr aircraft is a genuine breakthrough design, drawing on the latest technology and represents a massive leap forward in engineering excellence incorporating an entirely new wing design.
"The team has worked tirelessly over the past few years, making truly significant leaps forward in overall design and construction - and to see it successfully soar into the sky was fantastic," explained Jon Saltmarsh, Zephyr Programme Director. "By being able to remain over a location for weeks or months at a time, it can usefully deliver a host of practical and more affordable solutions to both civil and military customers."
Launched by hand, the aircraft flies by day on solar power delivered by amorphous silicon solar arrays no thicker than sheets of paper that cover the aircraft's wings. These are also used to recharge the lithium-sulphur batteries, supplied by Sion Power Inc, which are used to power the aircraft by night. Together they provide an extremely high power to weight ratio on a continuous day/night cycle, thereby delivering persistent on-station capabilities.
Around 50% larger than the previous Zephyr, technical changes now mean it has a 22.5m wingspan to accommodate more batteries that are combined with a totally new integrated power management system. The entirely new aerodynamic shape and high "T" tail also contribute to reduce drag and improve performance. The payload capacity will meet a number of key surveillance and communication requirements already demonstrated by Zephyr over the past three years. Zephyr's ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre design also means it weighs in at just over 50Kg.
Unlike conventional manned or unmanned aircraft now being operated, Zephyr does not need to return to base at regular intervals for re-fuelling or servicing which also helps minimise the logistical supply chain and extend its operational capability.
meh. doesn't even come close to the flight records of some other autonomous aerial vehicles. like weather balloons.
@notatoad
Okay, go fly your weather balloon overhead at a fixed spot, not an easy task for something with no control surfaces. Do you even know what autonomous means?
Clearly not, because you think a weather balloon is an autonomous vehicle. UAV's, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, currently have two possibilities for control, remotely piloted and autonomy. A remotely piloted vehicle does what it says on the tin, and a vast majority of UAV's are remotely piloted. Autonomous vehicles are given a certain task, i.e. circle above a certain area, and the system will fly itself. Autonomy meaning of course that it is independent and free, i.e. flying itself, free from direct control but flying within the specified constraints.
I don't believe QinetiQ have stated publicly whether this vehicle is autonomous. Making your comparison sink deeper, especially as a balloon is a passive vehicle. Launch a balloon up and it just goes, whereas the statements here suggest future planned flights of months at a time - almost an infinite vehicle. Furthermore, a weather balloon flight typically lasts a couple of hours and they drift for hundreds of miles - the longest you are likely to get is 3 or 4 days.
In summary, a balloon is not a UAV in anyway, capability and control. And the fact is, this aircraft already beats weather balloons by some margin.
@glypo
The weight of my dick exceeds the maximum payload of this piece of shite. They made a model airplane with a large surface area then covered it with solar panels to power a motor and charge a battery. That would be quite a feat for a secondary school science teacher.
You want to talk duration I recall reading about a nine-day flight that covered 12,756 miles in 203 hours and 32 minutes of flight time whist using 1930's tech.
I didn't know Global Hawk was solar...
Pretty soon we're just going to be shooting down each other's UAVs. May as well just fight it out in a Xbox LIVE session...
@TIMMAH
Well, obviously Global Hawk isn't. And nobody is saying it is?
I'm not saving for the Quadricopter anymore, I want that thing above my place to give me live traffic info on my way to work ;)