Engineering:Aurora Odysseus
| Odysseus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | HALE UAV |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Aurora Flight Sciences |
The Odysseus is a solar, High-Altitude Long Endurance drone developed by Aurora Flight Sciences.
Development
Aurora Flight Sciences announced the Odysseus in November 2018.[1] In spring 2019, Aurora planned to fly a High-Altitude Long Endurance drone powered by solar cells and batteries, Odysseus, to study the Earth atmosphere or as a military pseudo-satellite for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.[2] The 74.1 m (243 ft) wide carbon fibre aircraft should weigh less than a 880 kg (1,940 lb) Smart Car, can carry a 25 kg (55 lb) payload with 250W provided during several months of endurance.[2] It would compete with the Airbus Zephyr ordered by the UK Ministry of Defence and visited by the U.S. Army Futures Command, the BAE Systems-Prismatic Ltd UAV, and the AeroVironment-SoftBank telecommunications UAV.[2] The bendable wing has fiberglass upper skin panels and plastic film undersides, three tails and six propellers, with roll controlled by the outboard tails.[3] It used available, low-risk, lithium polymer batteries and gallium arsenide thin-film solar cells and first test flights were to be powered by batteries only.[3] It was designed to stay day and night above 65,000 ft (20,000 m) up to three months at latitudes up to 20°.[4] First flight was planned for April 2019 in Puerto Rico, before investigating ozone depletion in the summer over the US Midwest. [4] Its first flight was indefinitely delayed by July 2019.[1]
See also
- AeroVironment Global Observer
- Airbus Zephyr
- Aurora Flight Sciences Orion
- Boeing SolarEagle
- Facebook Aquila
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pat Host (9 July 2019). "Aurora indefinitely delays first flight of Odysseus ultra-long-endurance UAV". Jane's. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/aurora-indefinitely-delays-first-flight-of-odysseus-ultra-long-endurance-uav.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Garrett Reim (14 Nov 2018). "Aurora Flight Science's long-endurance drone to make first flight in spring 2019". Flightglobal. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/aurora-flight-sciences-long-endurance-drone-to-make-453648/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Graham Warwick (Nov 14, 2018). "This Is Aurora's Massive Solar-Powered Stratospheric Unmanned Aircraft". Aviation Week & Space Technology. http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/auroras-massive-solar-powered-stratospheric-unmanned-aircraft.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Graham Warwick (Nov 22, 2018). "Anatomy Of Aurora Flight Sciences' Odysseus". Aviation Week & Space Technology. http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/anatomy-aurora-flight-sciences-odysseus.
External links
- Graham Warwick (Nov 14, 2018). "Aurora Builds Stratospheric Solar Aircraft With Boeing's Backing". Aviation Week & Space Technology. http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/aurora-builds-stratospheric-solar-aircraft-boeing-s-backing.
- Graham Warwick (Nov 14, 2018). "This Is Aurora's Massive Solar-Powered Stratospheric Unmanned Aircraft". Aviation Week & Space Technology. http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/auroras-massive-solar-powered-stratospheric-unmanned-aircraft.
- Graham Warwick (Nov 22, 2018). "A Closer Look At Aurora's Solar Stratospheric Odysseus". Aviation Week & Space Technology. http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/closer-look-aurora-s-solar-stratospheric-odysseus.
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