Wiki Page

The Airbus Zephyr is a series of lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The latest model is a high-altitude platform station capable of flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m) for months at a time without fueling. It has a wingspan of 25 metres (82 ft) and weighs 75 kilograms (165 lb).

Zephyr is under consideration for use as an airborne communication station, offering the possibility of replacing 250 cell mobile phone sites. It can be used to perform intelligence, 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, lidar and infrared technologies.

The current model took off on June 15 and is still aloft.

This sounds like a good competitor to starlink for most cases.

cool

Great another reconnaissance vehicle to help bomb third world nations

speaking of drones…

The only purpose of these machines is to kill third world natives – we’ve been doing it for 30 years, that’s how I know.

wookiemeister said:

The only purpose of these machines is to kill third world natives – we’ve been doing it for 30 years, that’s how I know.

A few dozen of these repeating phone signals would be way cheaper than starlink, have a much lower ping, and be easier to replace.

They may well have an application above poverty stricken nations with oil underneath them, but they would be fairly easy to blow out of the sky over enemy territory. Starlink would be the preferred tool of choice in that case. These are so flimsy that they would only likely be used over friendly territory.

I’ve been following this space for ages. Around 65.000-70,000 feet altitude is where wind speeds drop off considerably, allowing aerial vehicles to loiter for long periods of time. All sorts of useful applications in terms of providing communications to outback Australia.

party_pants said:

I’ve been following this space for ages. Around 65.000-70,000 feet altitude is where wind speeds drop off considerably, allowing aerial vehicles to loiter for long periods of time. All sorts of useful applications in terms of providing communications to outback Australia.

Fuck that, we’ve got access to SPACELINK!!!!

sibeen said:

party_pants said:

I’ve been following this space for ages. Around 65.000-70,000 feet altitude is where wind speeds drop off considerably, allowing aerial vehicles to loiter for long periods of time. All sorts of useful applications in terms of providing communications to outback Australia.

Fuck that, we’ve got access to SPACELINK!!!!

no we don’t

party_pants said:

sibeen said:

party_pants said:

I’ve been following this space for ages. Around 65.000-70,000 feet altitude is where wind speeds drop off considerably, allowing aerial vehicles to loiter for long periods of time. All sorts of useful applications in terms of providing communications to outback Australia.

Fuck that, we’ve got access to SPACELINK!!!!

no we don’t

Well, STARLINK then :)

it did always seem like a good idea to outsource national communications connectivity and security to another entity like HUAWEI doped up dickhead, it’s the way it should be

Kingy said:

Wiki Page

The Airbus Zephyr is a series of lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The latest model is a high-altitude platform station capable of flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m) for months at a time without fueling. It has a wingspan of 25 metres (82 ft) and weighs 75 kilograms (165 lb).

Zephyr is under consideration for use as an airborne communication station, offering the possibility of replacing 250 cell mobile phone sites. It can be used to perform intelligence, 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, lidar and infrared technologies.

The current model took off on June 15 and is still aloft.

This sounds like a good competitor to starlink for most cases.

The “months at a time” is what has me interested. Even manned balloons can’t stay aloft for that long, the longest hot air balloon flight is 20 days.

party_pants said:

I’ve been following this space for ages. Around 65.000-70,000 feet altitude is where wind speeds drop off considerably, allowing aerial vehicles to loiter for long periods of time. All sorts of useful applications in terms of providing communications to outback Australia.

Now that I didn’t know. Let’s check. 65,000 ft is 20 km. The following image is from researchgate, confirming the drop-off of wind speeds. Amazing.

mollwollfumble said:

Kingy said:

Wiki Page

The Airbus Zephyr is a series of lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The latest model is a high-altitude platform station capable of flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m) for months at a time without fueling. It has a wingspan of 25 metres (82 ft) and weighs 75 kilograms (165 lb).

Zephyr is under consideration for use as an airborne communication station, offering the possibility of replacing 250 cell mobile phone sites. It can be used to perform intelligence, 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, lidar and infrared technologies.

The current model took off on June 15 and is still aloft.

This sounds like a good competitor to starlink for most cases.

The “months at a time” is what has me interested. Even manned balloons can’t stay aloft for that long, the longest hot air balloon flight is 20 days.

party_pants said:

I’ve been following this space for ages. Around 65.000-70,000 feet altitude is where wind speeds drop off considerably, allowing aerial vehicles to loiter for long periods of time. All sorts of useful applications in terms of providing communications to outback Australia.

Now that I didn’t know. Let’s check. 65,000 ft is 20 km. The following image is from researchgate, confirming the drop-off of wind speeds. Amazing.

That also depends on how far you are from the equator and what season it is. That chart in isolation isn’t a very good guide at all otherwise sorry.

Kingy said:

wookiemeister said:

The only purpose of these machines is to kill third world natives – we’ve been doing it for 30 years, that’s how I know.

A few dozen of these repeating phone signals would be way cheaper than starlink, have a much lower ping, and be easier to replace.

They may well have an application above poverty stricken nations with oil underneath them, but they would be fairly easy to blow out of the sky over enemy territory. Starlink would be the preferred tool of choice in that case. These are so flimsy that they would only likely be used over friendly territory.

On August 19th, the infamous solar-powered drone Zephyr was lost over Arizona, following an extended flight that had lasted for 64 days straight. It came within hours of breaking the record for the longest flight in history. Despite the aircraft being lost, the developers and the US Army gathered critical data from the aircraft during its flight, which will help the military further its high-altitude operational goals.

wookiemeister said:

Kingy said:

wookiemeister said:

The only purpose of these machines is to kill third world natives – we’ve been doing it for 30 years, that’s how I know.

A few dozen of these repeating phone signals would be way cheaper than starlink, have a much lower ping, and be easier to replace.

They may well have an application above poverty stricken nations with oil underneath them, but they would be fairly easy to blow out of the sky over enemy territory. Starlink would be the preferred tool of choice in that case. These are so flimsy that they would only likely be used over friendly territory.

On August 19th, the infamous solar-powered drone Zephyr was lost over Arizona, following an extended flight that had lasted for 64 days straight. It came within hours of breaking the record for the longest flight in history. Despite the aircraft being lost, the developers and the US Army gathered critical data from the aircraft during its flight, which will help the military further its high-altitude operational goals.

Its ALWAYS about weapons