Airbus Solar-Powered Drone Delivers Internet to Remote Areas

Airbus has begun production on its High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS), a solar-powered drone the company wants to keep aloft for 100 days.

The European aerospace giant is pushing the Zephyr for defense applications, but the “Psuedo-Satellite” also has the ability to deliver internet access to remote areas – similar to Facebook’s internet “beaming” technology. And that’s where it gets really interesting.

The Zephyr S would operate in the stratosphere at an altitude of 21 kilometers (13 miles), and its solar power generation and relatively light frame (< 75 kg) should allow it to stay airborne for 100 days without landing (so far, they’ve hit a max of 14 days).

The “High Altitude Pseudo Satellite” is able to fly for months at a time, “combining the persistence of a satellite with the flexibility of a UAV” and offering “voice and data communications, both line of sight and beyond the line of sight.”

And the Zephyr S will have plenty of competition – namely, the world’s largest social media website. Facebook has already tinkered with a solar-powered internet “beaming” drone, and the global clout of Mark Zuckerberg’s baby should make it a bit harder for competitors to carve their own piece of the HAPS pie.

But the promise of truly connecting the entire world should make room for a host of different solutions. And this goes without saying, but Airbus is no slouch in the aerospace department.

Read more about the Zephyr S here: www.airbus.com/defence/uav/zephyr.html