Even if you don’t like aviation, you must have seen Boeing 747. If you don’t recognize it by its name (common), just remember the “humped plane” in the forward fuselage and four engines. The giant plane has a wingspan of 68 meters (slightly more than the width of a football field). Now imagine this whole wing covered in solar panels, four propeller engines and a fuselage the size of a popular car. Can you imagine? Here is a plane that can fly for months and even years.

Skydweller Aero: Is it a bird? This is a plane? Is it a satellite?

birth Skydweller Aero this was in 2016 when it was still called Solar Impulse 2 and belongs to the Swiss inventors Bertrand Piccard and Bertrand Borschberg. Its construction was aimed at showing the possibility of using renewable energy sources for aviation. OUR solar impulse two walked the world with only solar power (and, of course, batteries).

In 2019, the Spanish-American company celestial bought a plane and named it Skydweller Aero. With plans for a second model, the company has plans… bigger (and longer) than flying around the world in an airplane. The company’s CEO Robert Miller sees the aircraft’s future as a “pseudo-satellite”: an aircraft that will act like today’s space satellites, whether for photo reconnaissance, telecommunications or disaster surveillance missions.

Credits: Disclosure/Skydweller.

The jump of the cat is that Skydweller Aero it can be reused for different missions and won’t become space junk like satellites do. While an orbiting satellite typically has a lifespan of up to 20 years, well-maintained aircraft can last up to 100 years, as is the case with satellites. B-52 gives US Air Force. And, of course, the environmental impact of your “launch” is zero. Traditional satellites are launched into orbit using rockets that burn more than 40 tons of fuel.

Skydweller Aero drone – the next step

Currently the only existing model Skydweller Aero need a pilot. As in the case of a nuclear submarine, the human factor is the only obstacle to long-term operations. Second model airplane will be unmanned, which will allow not only months in orbit, but also more payload space in cockpit.

Electric aircraft Rolls-Royce broke the record, accelerating to 623 km/h
The model is equipped with a 750-volt engine with a capacity of 535 hp. and has the “dense” battery ever made for an aircraft.

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Source: CNN