Solar-powered UAV breaks record for flight distance

The aircraft, the Airbus Zephyr S, is solar-powered and holds on-board batteries that utilise the solar energy that is stored in the day for use in the night. These are both vital energy management technologies that have allowed the UAV to remain airborne, uninterrupted, for 32 days at the time of writing.

It was on the 13th of August that the UAV achieved 26 days of flight, meaning that it has already beaten – and is right now continuing to further beat – its previous world record of 25 days, which was achieved on the 5th of August, 2018.

The Zephyr S began its now-record-breaking unmanned flight on the 15th of June when it took off from the United States military testing area, Yuma Proving Ground.

The unmanned aerial vehicle, or unmanned aerial system (UAS) as Airbus refers to it, is considered to be rather like a satellite in that it can sustain long-term airtime which allows it to reliably offer vital services like aerial surveillance and photography. In fact, unlike almost all traditional satellites, it has the added benefit of being able to return to the ground when needed, which allows engineers to equip it with upgrades (such as enhanced sensor technologies) as and when they are needed.

Airbus’s website refers to its aircraft as the ‘first stratospheric UAS of its kind’ and the technology has already wowed people by writing words in its flight path. For instance, it has written ‘UK’ and ‘USA’ – making the milestone achievement of the international aerospace giant Airbus shine all the brighter.

More information on breakthroughs in sustainable and/or renewable energy technologies can be found here on Electronic Specifier's Eco Innovation Industries page.