Airbus Zephyr

Zephyr
An artist's impression of the UAV
Role	high-altitude platform station
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Airbus Defence and Space
Design group	initiallyQinetiq
First flight	December 2005
Introduction	2024 (planned)
Status	Under development

TheZephyris a series ofhigh-altitude platform stationaircraft produced byAirbus.They were designed originally byQinetiQ,a commercial offshoot of theUK Ministry of Defence.In July 2010, the Zephyr 7 flew for 14 days. In March 2013, the project was sold toAirbus Defence and Space.In the summer of 2022, the Zephyr 8/S flew for 64 days.

Theunmanned aerial vehiclesare powered bysolar cells,rechargingbatteriesin daylight to stay aloft at night. The latest Zephyr 8/S weighs 60 kg (130 lb), has a wingspan of 25 m (82 ft), can reach 23,200 m (76,100 ft) and can lift a 5 kg (11 lb) payload for months. They can be used formobile phone coverage,environmental monitoring,militaryreconnaissanceor as acommunications relay.

Development

Zephyr 3

In 2003,QinetiQ,a commercial offshoot of theUK Ministry of Defence,was planning to fly its Zephyr 3 up to 40 km at 70 m/s (250 km/h; 140 kn), after being released from ahigh-altitude balloonat 9 km, besting theNASA Helioswhich had reached 29 km.It was envisionned as an alternative tospace satellites,stationed permanently in thestratosphereforenvironmental monitoring,mobile phone coverageormilitaryapplications.TheQinetiQ 1balloon altitude record attempt failed in 2003.

In February 2005, Qinetiq was preparing a demonstration above 30,000 ft for the UK Ministry of Defence at theWoomera Test Rangein Australia, forreconnaissanceor as acommunications relay.

Zephyr 6

Between 28 and 31 July 2008, in a demonstration for the US military at itsYuma Proving Groundin Arizona, the Zephyr 6 flew for 82 hours and 37 minutes, an unofficial record as theFAIwasn't involved.

Zephyr 7

On 23 July 2010, the Zephyr 7 took theFAI-sanctionedduration recordafter a 336 hours (14 days), 22 min and 8 s flight,reaching 21,562 m (70,741 ft).It exceeded the nine days (216 hours) of the 1986 round-the-world flight of theRutan Voyager.

In March 2013, the project was sold toEADS Astrium(nowAirbus Defence and Space).

In 2014 it flew for 11 days in the short days of winter whilst carrying a small payload for the British Ministry of Defence,and later near civilian airspace.

Zephyr 8/S

In February 2016, theUK Ministry of Defencepurchased two Zephyr 8 planes.In August 2016, a third was purchased.

In 2016, a twin-tailed Zephyr T variant, providing a maritime surveillance and communications capability, was scheduled for flight testing in 2018.

In summer 2018, for its maiden flight from Arizona, the Zephyr S remained aloft for 25 days 23 hours 57 minutes, nearly twice as long as the previous record flight of 14 days set by its predecessor. By October 2021, it had flown 2,435 hours.

On 15 June 2022, the Zephyr S took off inArizona,venturing for the first time into international airspace and over water.On 19 August, the plane was lost over the Arizona desert after a flight time of 64 days.It covered 56,000 km over the southern United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and South America.

The aircraft was lost when one engine component (redesigned since) failed in an unusual high-altitude storm turbulence at 17 km. By early 2023, Airbus planned to launch operations from the end of 2024 with around 18 aircraft. By 2034, a 1,000 aircraft constellation could cover 2.9 billion people, and would provide emergency 4G/5G following natural disasters. The larger Zephyr variant, with twice the payload capacity, is expected for 2026.

Commercial services

In January 2023, the Aalto HAPS company was set up by Airbus to sell its mobile connectivity and earth observation services. In June 2024, a Japanese consortium led byNTT DocomoandSpace Compasscommitted to invest USD$100m in AALTO to commercialise connectivity HAPS services in Asia, targeting a 2026 introduction.

Design

Zephyr 3

The 12 m (39 ft) wide aircraft had a carbon composite frame to weigh 12 kg (26 lb), and 1 kW ofsolar cellspowering five motors.

Zephyr 6

Thecarbon fiberZephyr 6 has a 18 m (59 ft) span and weighs 30–34 kg (70 lb) for a 2 kg (4.5 lb) payload. Amorphous siliconsolar cells fromUnisolarrechargelithium-sulphur batteriesfromSion Corporationwith twice the energy density of the best alternative,lithium polymer batteries. Launched by hand, it can reach 18 km (60,000 ft). The first version had a battery capacity of 3 kW·h, driving two propellers.

Zephyr 7

Zephyr 7 was larger, at 53 kg,and capable of a maximum altitude between 20 and 21 km,it required five ground crew to launch, as opposed to three previously for the Zephyr 6.

Zephyr 8/S

Designed to fly at 20 km (65,000 ft) for more than a month, the 25 m (82 ft) wide Zephyr 8 is 30% lighter and can lift 50% more batteries than the Zephyr 7. It weighs 60 kg, 40% of which are batteries (24 kg), and the 5 kg payload can transmit video with a 50 cm resolution from above 20 km. They should be able to operate year-round between40 degrees NorthandSouth,whilewinteroperation gets more difficult at higherlatitudes.

It used Ampriuslithium-ion batterieswithsilicon nanowireanodes for a 435 Wh/kgspecific energyup from 300–320 Wh/kg.Solar cells are high-efficiency, lightweight, and flexible invertedmetamorphic multi-junctionepitaxial lift-offGaAssheets manufactured byMicroLink Devices,with specific power exceeding 1,500 W/kg and areal powers greater than 350 W/m².

One Zephyr can replace 250cell phone towers.It can be used to performintelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance(ISR) with a wide visual payload coverage of 20×30 km (12.4×18.6 mi) and can be equipped with radar,LIDARand infrared technologies.

Endurance is targeted for up to 200–300 days. An 8 kg (17.6 lb) mobile connectivity payload can serve up to 100,000 people on the ground. A 5 kg Airbus-developedOpaz optical sensorcan deliver 18 cm-resolution imagery.

Specifications

Airbus-QinetiQ Zephyr

Model	Span	Weight	Ceiling	Endurance	Payload
Zephyr 4	12 m (39 ft)	17 kg (37 lb)	9 140 m (30 000 ft)	6 h
Zephyr 5	16 m (52 ft)	31 kg (68 lb)	11 000 m (36 000 ft)	18 h
Zephyr 6	18 m (59 ft)	30 kg (66 lb)	18 300 m (60 000 ft)	87 h	2 kg (4.4 lb)
Zephyr 7	22,5 m (74 ft)	53 kg (117 lb)	21 000 m (69 000 ft)	336 h	5 kg (11 lb)
Zephyr 8/S	25 m (82 ft)	62-65 kg (137-143 lb)	23,200 m (76,100 ft)	624 h	5 kg (11 lb)
Zephyr T	32 m (105 ft)	145 kg (320 lb)			20 kg (44 lb)

Accidents and incidents

As of August 2022,three hull losses have been reported:

• March 2019, Wyndham, Western Australia
• 28 September 2019, Wyndham, Western Australia, during the first flight after the first incident in March 2019
• 19 August 2022, Arizona, just before breaking the record for the longest flight of any aircraft (a total of 64 days)

See also

• NASA Pathfinder(First flew in June 1983)
• NASA Centurion(First flight 10 November 1998)
• NASA/AeroVironmentHelios Prototype(First flight 8 September 1999)
• Facebook Aquila(First flight 28 June 2016)
• SoftBank/AeroVironmentHAPSMobile(First flight 11 September 2019)
• BAE Systems PHASA-35(First flight 17 February 2020)
• Solar-powered aircraft

External links

• Official website
• Ben Sampson (17 July 2018)."Zephyr S high-altitude persistent drone could achieve 100-day flight during tests".Aerospace Testing International.