Are airships
sustainable
reconfigurable
satellites?
Aerospace has always been at the forefront of technological innovation, developing technical masterpieces like autonomous drones and hydrogen planes. Alongside these exciting developments, airships could appear dated, reminding us of the Zeppelins of yesteryear. But an exciting new generation of airships is under development. This new class of airships is classified as High-Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS). They are designed and built to operate as stratospheric platforms capable of bringing connectivity or capturing imagery and sensor data anywhere on the globe, no matter how remote.
The extraordinarily long endurance and persistence of stratospheric airships make them suitable for a broad range of missions. These could include a surveillance mission for frontier control, for example, disaster management, fire detection, or deploying a communication antenna to connect unpopulated areas or strengthen the telecom infrastructure for massive events or disaster zones.
Airship reusability means that they can be configured, reconfigured, and reconfigured again. So once a mission is completed, the airship can return to the base to be reconfigured for a new task. It is impossible to do this with satellites; in addition, airships do not create space debris.
Unlike rockets, airships are intrinsically low emission or have zero emissions. One airship project we are developing uses helium buoyancy and electrical motors powered with solar energy to reach service altitude.
Designing and building airships to reach the stratosphere is a challenging task. There are no guidebooks for projects like these. Everything must be developed from first principles - every step in the process: design, manufacturing, certification, and system operation. It’s a pure research and development project where practically none of the components are available off-the-shelf. Our engineering teams and suppliers must develop each component for projects like these.
One of our projects is completing the initial flight tests of a 30 m-long prototype airship. This project phase de-risks future airship models, validating design and technology selection. In the project's next step, the airship will be tested in the stratosphere so we can validate that the novel materials selected can resist the stratosphere's extreme conditions, like low temperatures, radiation, and a range of wind conditions. At the same time, we are moving forward to address the regulations and constraints for legal operation.
Highly innovative projects demand persistence, hard work, teamwork, and patience. However, the result is worth it. Within ten years, soaring high in our skies, airships will provide security, surveillance, and communications at a lower price for their users and the planet.