High-Flying Airship Reaches Near-Space Altitudes | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-11.04.24

Airborne-NextGen-11.05.24

Airborne-Unlimited-11.06.24

Airborne-FlightTraining-11.07.24

Airborne-Unlimited-11.08.24

Sat, Nov 19, 2005

High-Flying Airship Reaches Near-Space Altitudes

Flies To 74,000 Feet On Demonstration Flight

Aero-News has learned a 146-foot-long airship developed by a team led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has successfully demonstrated powered flight of the HiSentinel stratospheric airship at an altitude of 74,000 feet.

The development team, consisting of Aerostar International, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and SwRI launched the airship on Nov. 8 from Roswell, NM for a five-hour technology demonstration flight. The airship carried a 60-pound equipment pod, according to SwRI, as well as propulsion system.

"There are a number of stratospheric airship programs being promoted around the world, but this is the first of these programs to successfully fly a real airship in near-space," said William Perry, assistant director of Space Systems in the SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division.

SwRI designed the airship and provided the telemetry, flight control, power and propulsion systems. Aerostar International fabricated the hull and participated in the integration and test flight. AFRL developed the innovative launch system, provided facilities, and supported the launch and recovery. Each of the four organizations contributed funding, manpower, equipment and facilities for the collaborative effort, which was sponsored by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command.

HiSentinel is the first airship developed under the Composite Hull High Altitude Powered Platform (CHHAPP) program. CHHAPP is a spiral development program for a family of long-endurance autonomous solar-electric, stratospheric airships capable of lifting up to 200-lb payloads to near-space altitudes in excess of 30 days.

Unlike most other stratospheric airship concepts, HiSentinel is launched with relatively little helium onboard -- not enough to inflate the gasbag -- but as the airship rises, the helium expands to fully inflate the hull.

FMI: www.swri.org

Advertisement

More News

ANN FAQ: Feel The Propwash (Updated)

New Form Makes Subscribing, Unsubscribing Even Easier While we're very proud of our newly-redesigned website, we know that some folks really enjoy the convenience of having their A>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (11.08.24): Quadrant

Quadrant A quarter part of a circle, centered on a NAVAID, oriented clockwise from magnetic north as follows: NE quadrant 000-089, SE quadrant 090-179, SW quadrant 180-269, NW quad>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (11.08.24)

Aero Linx: Classic Jet Aircraft Association (CJAA) The mission of the Classic Jet Aircraft Association is to protect the right to fly classic jets with the least amount of regulati>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (11.09.24)

Aero Linx: Franklin's Flying Circus Show The name Franklin has always been the name for unique and different airshow entertainment for over 55 years. Always focused on entertaining>[...]

Airborne 11.04.24: World Drone Races, Manta Aircraft, Stratus Power Max

Also: Large Formation Skydiving, USCG Medevac, ARTCC Meteorologists, SpaceX 2024 100th The 2024 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Drone Racing>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC