This drone’s wingspan rivals a 737—but it’s lighter than a NFL linebacker
In the mid-2010s, some of the world’s biggest tech companies were racing to launch lightweight, solar-powered drones to fly over remote areas and spread internet connectivity. Meta (then called Facebook) and Google, the two companies investing the most in technology at the time, abruptly left the space following a series of incidents. In Google’s case, its “Titan” prototype crashed in New Mexico just four minutes after takeoff.
Now, nearly a decade later, a much smaller company is trying to pick up where those giants left off. This week, Seattle-based startup Radical revealed that it had successfully tested a large-scale prototype of its ultra-thin solar-powered drone, “Evenstar.” The boomerang-shaped plane has a massive 120-foot wingspan, larger than that of a Boeing 737, but weighs just 240 pounds (less than an average NFL player).
And while there’s still a long way to go, Radical believes its lightweight, solar-powered frame could eventually operate autonomously in the stratosphere for months without interruption. This could make it attractive for weather monitoring, mobile internet connectivity and aerial surveillance. But first Radical will have to get his strange drone into the sky. The most recent test, originally reported by GeekWireflew only at low altitudes and at speeds slightly above 15 miles per hour.
“Our goal is to make stratospheric flight as routine as satellite operations, but faster, cheaper and at higher resolutions,” said James Thomas, CEO of Radical. Popular science.
“StratoSats” are halfway between satellites and drones
The Evenstar is an example of what Radical calls a “StratoSat.” These are essentially lightweight satellite-type devices, designed to “provide persistent and efficient infrastructure” in the stratosphere. StratoSats are powered by solar panels mounted on their wings, theoretically allowing them to stay in flight for weeks or even months. And unlike conventional satellites that must remain in orbit indefinitely, a StratoSat can come back down when it needs to change what it’s carrying on board.
Given their limited size, this cargo would most likely consist of sensors, cameras or light mobile telecommunications equipment. The Evenstar, in particular, can carry a payload of 33 pounds and does so with fully autonomous capability. Thomas said the ability to operate autonomously is crucial to ensuring the drone can operate without interruption during long flights.
The radical CEO said Popular science the most recent Evenstar test flight took place in Tillamook, Oregon. The flight was autonomous, but a human pilot was available to intervene if necessary. The company said GeekWire that the prototype took off from the back of a Subaru before taking a low-altitude flight. Radical says it hopes to conduct testing at higher altitudes next year.
Notably, this version was not powered by solar energy but instead relied on a battery. (Radical said it equipped the drone with ballast to simulate the additional weight the final version would have when equipped with solar panels.) The company did not provide details, nor for GeekWire Or Popular scienceregarding the total duration of the flight, the maximum altitude or if the drone encountered any problems.
“The purpose of this flight was to validate Evenstar’s core systems in real-world conditions, including the airframe design, AI controller, telemetry and communications links,” Thomas said. Popular science. “The test confirmed our design and simulation tools and provided valuable performance data ahead of high-altitude testing. »
Radical presents this category of aircraft as a sort of jack-of-all-trades capable of filling the gaps left by satellites, drones and conventional aircraft. In the case of satellites, they are often capable of providing either large coverage areas or high-resolution images, but not both at the same time. They also move at high speeds, meaning they only fly over a given target for a few minutes per day. The process of launching a satellite into space is also extremely expensive, evident by the estimated $10 billion that Elon Musk’s SpaceX has spent building its Starlink satellite constellation in recent years.
Conventional drones solve some of these problems, but are limited in the time they can spend in the air without refueling. Refueling and running ongoing missions can be expensive. According to Radical, all of these drawbacks limit the quality and scale of data captured from the sky.
“It never really made sense to see something better by moving further away from it,” Thomas said in a video posted on X. “It never made sense to accept a snapshot every 90 minutes as our worldview.”
Radical, whose co-founders previously worked on Amazon’s Prime Air drone program, envisions Evenstar one day helping with long-term wildfire monitoring. Like Google and Meta before it, the company also sees the potential to use its lightweight, hovering drone to beam 5G connectivity to rural or remote areas currently underserved by traditional ISPs. The company’s website also references possible military applications, although it did not respond to our request for comment on whether it intends to offer its technology for surveillance or law enforcement purposes. The radical CEO said Popular science Evenstar is “designed to meet customer needs across a range of use cases – both commercial and government.”
Related: [A solar-powered Army drone has been flying for 40 days straight]
They’re not the only ones racing toward the stratosphere, either. Airbus has an even lighter (around 165 pounds) solar-powered drone, called Zephyr, which has already demonstrated that it can spend 26 consecutive days in the stratosphere. US startup Skydweller is researching a similar solar-powered drone that it says can carry up to 800 pounds of cargo. Radical’s approach is considerably smaller, as is its team. GeekWire notes that the Seattle company has only six employees. For now, Thomas said, their path forward is pretty straightforward.
“Our mission is simple.” said Thomas. “Get there [to the stratosphere] stay there. »
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