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Airbus Zephyr

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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[1]
Introduction 2024 (planned)[2]
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

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Zephyr 3

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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.[3]It was envisionned as an alternative tospace satellites,stationed permanently in thestratosphereforenvironmental monitoring,mobile phone coverageormilitaryapplications.[3]TheQinetiQ 1balloon altitude record attempt failed in 2003.[4]

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.[4]

Zephyr 6

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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.[5]

Zephyr 7

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On 23 July 2010, the Zephyr 7 took theFAI-sanctionedduration recordafter a 336 hours (14 days), 22 min and 8 s flight,[6]reaching 21,562 m (70,741 ft).[7]It exceeded the nine days (216 hours) of the 1986 round-the-world flight of theRutan Voyager.[8]

In March 2013, the project was sold toEADS Astrium(nowAirbus Defence and Space).[9]

In 2014 it flew for 11 days in the short days of winter whilst carrying a small payload for the British Ministry of Defence,[10]and later near civilian airspace.[11]

Zephyr 8/S

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In February 2016, theUK Ministry of Defencepurchased two Zephyr 8 planes.[12]In August 2016, a third was purchased.[13]

In 2016, a twin-tailed Zephyr T variant, providing a maritime surveillance and communications capability, was scheduled for flight testing in 2018.[14]

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.[15] By October 2021, it had flown 2,435 hours.[16]

On 15 June 2022, the Zephyr S took off inArizona,venturing for the first time into international airspace and over water.[17]On 19 August, the plane was lost over the Arizona desert after a flight time of 64 days.[citation needed]It covered 56,000 km over the southern United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and South America.[18]

The aircraft was lost when one engine component (redesigned since) failed in an unusual high-altitude storm turbulence at 17 km.[2] By early 2023, Airbus planned to launch operations from the end of 2024 with around 18 aircraft.[2] By 2034, a 1,000 aircraft constellation could cover 2.9 billion people, and would provide emergency 4G/5G following natural disasters.[2] The larger Zephyr variant, with twice the payload capacity, is expected for 2026.[2]

Commercial services

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In January 2023, the Aalto HAPS company was set up by Airbus to sell its mobile connectivity and earth observation services.[19] 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.[20]

Design

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Zephyr 3

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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.[3]

Zephyr 6

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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.[5] Amorphous siliconsolar cells fromUnisolarrechargelithium-sulphur batteriesfromSion Corporationwith twice the energy density of the best alternative,lithium polymer batteries.[5] Launched by hand, it can reach 18 km (60,000 ft).[5] The first version had a battery capacity of 3 kW·h, driving two propellers.[21]

Zephyr 7

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Zephyr 7 was larger, at 53 kg,[22]and capable of a maximum altitude between 20 and 21 km,[23]it required five ground crew to launch, as opposed to three previously for the Zephyr 6.[24]

Zephyr 8/S

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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.[25] 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.[12] They should be able to operate year-round between40 degrees NorthandSouth,whilewinteroperation gets more difficult at higherlatitudes.[12]

It used Ampriuslithium-ion batterieswithsilicon nanowireanodes for a 435 Wh/kgspecific energyup from 300–320 Wh/kg.[26]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.[27]

One Zephyr can replace 250cell phone towers.[28]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.[17]

Endurance is targeted for up to 200–300 days.[2] An 8 kg (17.6 lb) mobile connectivity payload can serve up to 100,000 people on the ground.[2] A 5 kg Airbus-developedOpaz optical sensorcan deliver 18 cm-resolution imagery.[2]

Specifications

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Airbus-QinetiQ Zephyr[29]
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)[16] 624 h 5 kg (11 lb)
Zephyr T 32 m (105 ft) 145 kg (320 lb) 20 kg (44 lb)

Accidents and incidents

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

  • March 2019, Wyndham, Western Australia[30]
  • 28 September 2019, Wyndham, Western Australia, during the first flight after the first incident in March 2019[31][30]
  • 19 August 2022, Arizona, just before breaking the record for the longest flight of any aircraft (a total of 64 days)[citation needed]

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^Craig Hoyle (11 July 2006)."Energetic Qinetiq".flightglobal.
  2. ^abcdefghCraig Hoyle (6 January 2023)."Airbus readies high-flying Zephyr for 2024 service launch".Flightglobal.
  3. ^abcAmos, Jonathan (24 June 2003)."Strato-plane looks forward".BBC News.
  4. ^abCraig Hoyle (22 February 2005)."UK's Zephyr UAV to be tested for military role".Flight International.
  5. ^abcdAmos, Jonathan (24 August 2008)."Solar plane makes record flight".BBC News.
  6. ^"FAI Record ID No. 16052".FAI.16 October 2017.Absolute Record of class U (Experimental / New Technologies) for Duration
  7. ^"FAI Record ID No. 18683".FAI.29 August 2018.Record of class U (Experimental / New Technologies) for True altitude
  8. ^Amos, Jonathan (23 July 2010)."'Eternal plane' returns to Earth ".BBC News.
  9. ^"First flight of Astrium's Zephyr solar HAPS"(Press release).Airbus.25 September 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 5 October 2013.
  10. ^Tovey, Alan (31 August 2014)."Fly 11 days non-stop? Now that's long-haul".Daily Telegraph.
  11. ^Woodrow Bellamy III (1 October 2014)."Airbus Zephyr Proves Value For Civil Operations in Middle East".Avionics Today.Access Intelligence LLC.
  12. ^abc"MoD to buy high-flying solar planes".BBC.2 February 2016.
  13. ^"MOD buys third record-breaking UAV"(Press release). UK MOD. 17 August 2016.
  14. ^"Farnborough 2016: Airbus releases Zephyr T details, outlines CONOPS for systems".Janes. 14 July 2016. Archived fromthe originalon 25 August 2016.
  15. ^Dan Thisdell (8 August 2018)."Airbus sets flight endurance record with Zephyr UAV".Flightglobal.
  16. ^abSampson, Ben (15 October 2021)."Airbus Zephyr breaks more aviation records during flight testing".Aerospace Testing International.
  17. ^abBuchaniec, Catherine (22 July 2022)."Up, up and away: Airbus' Zephyr drone breaks flight record high above Arizona".Defense News.
  18. ^"Unexpected end to Zephyr 8's record-smashing 64-day endurance flight".New Atlas.24 August 2022.
  19. ^Ben Sampson (23 January 2023)."Airbus brands stratospheric drone business as Aalto".Aerospace testing international.
  20. ^"NTT DOCOMO and Space Compass partners with Airbus on HAPS, committing to a USD$100 million investment in AALTO"(Press release). AALTO. 3 June 2024.
  21. ^Bush, Steve (28 September 2007)."Inside Qinetiq's Zephyr solar powered plane".Electronics weekly.
  22. ^"Wing-to-tail guide to Zephyr, the 'eternal' plane".BBC News.23 July 2010.
  23. ^"British MoD Acquires Solar-Powered Zephyr UAV".17 February 2016.
  24. ^Goodier, Rob (7 July 2010)."Solar Plane Aims for New Record: 3 Months Aloft Without a Pilot or Fuel".Popular mechanics.
  25. ^"United Kingdom Ministry of Defence places order for two solar-powered Airbus Zephyr 8s"(Press release).Airbus.18 February 2016.
  26. ^Graham Warwick (13 December 2018)."Record-Breaking Zephyr's Battery Holds eVTOL Potential".Aviation Week & Space Technology.
  27. ^MicroLink Devices (17 October 2018)."MicroLink Devices Powers Successful Stratospheric Flight of Airbus Defence and Space Zephyr S HAPS Solar Aircraft"(Press release).
  28. ^"Zephyr".Airbus.
  29. ^"Airbus-QinetiQ Zephyr".AviationsMilitaires.net.
  30. ^ab"In-flight break-up involving Airbus Zephyr unmanned aerial vehicle, near Wyndham Airport, Western Australia, on 28 September 2019".Australian Transport Safety Bureau. 28 September 2020.
  31. ^"Outback aviation incident linked to UK Ministry of Defence".9News.12 April 2019.
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