Airbus Zephyr
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox aircraft
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, the project was sold to Airbus Defence and Space. In the summer of 2022, the Zephyr 8/S flew for 64 days.
The unmanned aerial vehicles are powered by solar cells, recharging batteries in daylight to stay aloft at night. The latest Zephyr 8/S weighs Template:Cvt, has a wingspan of Template:Cvt, can reach Template:Cvt and can lift a Template:Cvt payload for months. They can be used for mobile phone coverage, environmental monitoring, military reconnaissance or as a communications relay.
Development
Zephyr 3
In 2003, QinetiQ, a commercial offshoot of the UK Ministry of Defence, was planning to fly its Zephyr 3 up to 40 km at Template:Cvt, after being released from a high-altitude balloon at 9 km, besting the NASA Helios which had reached 29 km.[1] It was envisionned as an alternative to space satellites, stationed permanently in the stratosphere for environmental monitoring, mobile phone coverage or military applications.[1] The QinetiQ 1 balloon altitude record attempt failed in 2003.[2]
In February 2005, Qinetiq was preparing a demonstration above 30,000 ft for the UK Ministry of Defence at the Woomera Test Range in Australia, for reconnaissance or as a communications relay.[2]
Zephyr 5
Zephyr 5 flew on flight trials at White Sands in 2005.[3]
Zephyr 6
First flew in 2006.[4] Between 28 and 31 July 2008, in a demonstration for the US military at its Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, the Zephyr 6 flew for 82 hours and 37 minutes, an unofficial record as the FAI wasn't involved.[5]
Zephyr 7
On 23 July 2010, the Zephyr 7 took the FAI-sanctioned duration record after a 336 hours (14 days), 22 min and 8 s flight,[6] reaching Template:Cvt.[7] It exceeded the nine days (216 hours) of the 1986 round-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.[8]
In March 2013, the project was sold to EADS Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space).[9]
In 2014 it flew for 11 days in the short days of winter whilst carrying a small payload for the British Ministry of Defence,[10] and later near civilian airspace.[11]
Zephyr 8/S
In February 2016, the UK Ministry of Defence purchased two Zephyr 8 planes.[12] In August 2016, a third was purchased.[13]
In 2016, a twin-tailed Zephyr T variant, providing a maritime surveillance and communications capability, was scheduled for flight testing in 2018.[14]
In summer 2018, for its maiden flight from Arizona, the Zephyr S remained aloft for 25 days 23 hours 57 minutes, nearly twice as long as the previous record flight of 14 days set by its predecessor.[15] By October 2021, it had flown 2,435 hours.[16]
On 15 June 2022, the Zephyr S took off in Arizona, venturing for the first time into international airspace and over water.[17] On 19 August, the plane was lost over the Arizona desert after a flight time of 64 days.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". It covered 56,000 km over the southern United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and South America.[18]
The aircraft was lost when one engine component (redesigned since) failed in an unusual high-altitude storm turbulence at 17 km.[19] By early 2023, Airbus planned to launch operations from the end of 2024 with around 18 aircraft.[19] By 2034, a 1,000 aircraft constellation could cover 2.9 billion people, and would provide emergency 4G/5G following natural disasters.[19] The larger Zephyr variant, with twice the payload capacity, is expected for 2026.[19]
Commercial services
In January 2023, the Aalto HAPS company was set up by Airbus to sell its mobile connectivity and earth observation services.[20] In June 2024, a Japanese consortium led by NTT Docomo and Space Compass committed to invest USD$100m in AALTO to commercialise connectivity HAPS services in Asia, targeting a 2026 introduction.[21]
Design
Zephyr 3
The Template:Cvt wide aircraft had a carbon composite frame to weigh Template:Cvt, and 1 kW of solar cells powering five motors.[1]
Zephyr 6
The carbon fiber Zephyr 6 has a Template:Cvt span and weighs 30–34 kg (70 lb) for a 2 kg (4.5 lb) payload.[5] Amorphous silicon solar cells from Unisolar recharge lithium-sulphur batteries from Sion Corporation with twice the energy density of the best alternative, lithium polymer batteries.[5] Launched by hand, it can reach 18 km (60,000 ft).[5] The first version had a battery capacity of 3 kW·h, driving two propellers.[22]
Zephyr 7
Zephyr 7 was larger, at 53 kg,[23] and capable of a maximum altitude between 20 and 21 km,[24] it required five ground crew to launch, as opposed to three previously for the Zephyr 6.[25]
Zephyr 8/S
Designed to fly at Template:Cvt for more than a month, the Template:Cvt wide Zephyr 8 is 30% lighter and can lift 50% more batteries than the Zephyr 7.[26] It weighs 60 kg, 40% of which are batteries (24 kg), and the 5 kg payload can transmit video with a 50 cm resolution from above 20 km.[12] They should be able to operate year-round between 40 degrees North and South, while winter operation gets more difficult at higher latitudes.[12]
It used Amprius lithium-ion batteries with silicon nanowire anodes for a 435 Wh/kg specific energy up from 300–320 Wh/kg.[27] Solar cells are high-efficiency, lightweight, and flexible inverted metamorphic multi-junction epitaxial lift-off GaAs sheets manufactured by MicroLink Devices, with specific power exceeding 1,500 W/kg and areal powers greater than 350 W/m2.[28]
One Zephyr can replace 250 cell phone towers.[29] It can be used to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) with a wide visual payload coverage of 20×30 km (12.4×18.6 mi) and can be equipped with radar, LIDAR and infrared technologies.[17]
Endurance is targeted for up to 200–300 days.[19] An 8 kg (17.6 lb) mobile connectivity payload can serve up to 100,000 people on the ground.[19] A 5 kg Airbus-developed Opaz optical sensor can deliver 18 cm-resolution imagery.[19]
Specifications
| Model | Span | Weight | Ceiling | Endurance | Payload |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zephyr 4 | 12 m (39 ft) | 17 kg (37 lb) | 9 140 m (30 000 ft) | 6 h | |
| Zephyr 5 | 16 m (52 ft) | 31 kg (68 lb) | 11 000 m (36 000 ft) | 18 h | |
| Zephyr 6 | 18 m (59 ft) | 30 kg (66 lb) | 18 300 m (60 000 ft) | 87 h | 2 kg (4.4 lb) |
| Zephyr 7 | 22,5 m (74 ft) | 53 kg (117 lb) | 21 000 m (69 000 ft) | 336 h | 5 kg (11 lb) |
| Zephyr 8/S | 25 m (82 ft) | 62-65 kg (137-143 lb) | Template:Cvt[16] | 624 h | 5 kg (11 lb) |
| Zephyr T | 32 m (105 ft) | 145 kg (320 lb) | 20 kg (44 lb) |
Accidents and incidents
since August 2022[update]Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., three hull losses have been reported:
- March 2019, Wyndham, Western Australia[31]
- 28 September 2019, Wyndham, Western Australia, during the first flight after the first incident in March 2019[32][31]
- 19 August 2022, Arizona, just before breaking the record for the longest flight of any aircraft (a total of 64 days)Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
See also
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- NASA Pathfinder (First flew in June 1983)
- NASA Centurion (First flight 10 November 1998)
- NASA/AeroVironment Helios Prototype (First flight 8 September 1999)
- Facebook Aquila (First flight 28 June 2016)
- SoftBank/AeroVironment HAPSMobile (First flight 11 September 2019)
- BAE Systems PHASA-35 (First flight 17 February 2020)
- Solar-powered aircraft
Notes and references
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External links
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