Aurora Flight Sciences Solar Powered Aircraft
We’ve blogged about solar powered airplanes in recent months, but the interest has seemed to be with respect to their novelty, rather than a real potential way to address the massive amounts of fuel consumed by aircraft (and corresponding CO2 emissions).
Recognizing the need for a variety of aircraft to serve multiple purposes, Virginia-based Aurora Flight Sciences has focused on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can be flown without pilots or passengers to carry cameras, computers and other equipment. For military, homeland security and space exploration, solar UAVs would be perfect. Saving on fuel and extending flight time are two of the primary benefits of using the renewable energy resource.
Last week, Virginia-based Aurora Flight Sciences announced that it had finished the fabrication and initial tests of a wing design that could revolutionize solar-powered aircraft. The company, which specializes in the design and construction of unmanned aircraft, created a test plane wing with a span of 22 feet that is constructed of composite materials and lightweight plastics. Advanced solar cells cover the top of the wing, which convert sunlight into electricity for use to power the aircraft and its payloads.
Solar UAV from Aurora Flight Sciences
Aurora CEO John Langford enthused:
“Our very first externally funded study, in 1989, was for a solar-powered version of the Daedalus human-powered aircraft. Today’s designs are for much larger aircraft — literally hundreds of feet in wingspan. The idea of this test panel was to develop and validate designs and manufacturing techniques. Doing this is essential for the accurate planning of any future solar aircraft development program.”
The company has been working on a viable solar plane – and one with long-range capabilities – for some time:
Aurora was selected as a contractor by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (also known as “DARPA”) in 2008 to work on the “Vulture” ultra-long endurance aircraft program. The large solar test panel announced last week was privately funded as an adjunct to the Vulture project. In addition, Aurora funded the development/flight test of SunLight Eagle, another solar UAV (unmaned aerial vehicle) with a huge 114-foot wingspan last year.
Tags: aurora flight sciences, solar airplane, solar plane, solar powered aircraft, solar technology, solar test panel, solar UAV, sunlight eagle, unmanned aircraft, vulture
