Airbus is solving the space debris problem in the form of the Zephyr. Currently there are over 171 million pieces of space debris orbiting the Earth or 58 years worth of space debris. These objects which travel at high speeds can cause severe damage so solutions have been underway to collect the space debris. In the meantime something must be done in order to ensure that our communication networks stay running in space. The Zephyr is one of those inventions.
According to Geek.com, "Zephyr is a UAV, but unlike other UAVs it has been designed to fly forever, or as close as you can come to that. It’s 100% solar powered, flies at an altitude of 20km meaning it’s above the weather, and can be outfitted with a range of equipment allowing it to act like a satellite. Airbus refers to it as a High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS).
Test flights have already proven the Zephyr’s potential, as it has flown for 8x longer than any other UAV, with its longest flight time so far being 336 hours 22 minutes and 8 seconds (2 weeks). The next step is to increase that to months, then hopefully years. And because the Zephyr remains within the atmosphere, it’s a relatively simple and cheap craft to land. That allows for easy equipment upgrades and ultimately a reusable UAV.
This type of object will ensure that communication is not only improved in space, but also that communication is stable despite the debris that is floating around in space that could disrupt it. Airbus is currently working on the Zephyr 8 which will be available this year and improved upon for 2017. It’s capable of offering 100Mbps broadcasts, NIIRS 6 imagery, HD video, AIS, and narrowband mobile comms. It’s also cleared for both military and civil controlled airspace.
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