HAPSMobile
SoftBank | |
Website | www |
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HAPSMobile is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Hawk30
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9f/HAPSMobile_Hawk30.jpg/220px-HAPSMobile_Hawk30.jpg)
Development
On January 3, 2018, AeroVironment announced it would design and develop a solar-powered, high-altitude, unmanned aircraft and associated ground control stations for a
In November 2018, the
On April 25, 2019, the stratospheric Hawk30 was rolled out for the joint venture. Commercial operations are expected to begin in 2023, operating year-round at latitudes 30° north and south of the equator.[3]
AeroVironment's design development investment increased by $39 million to $129 million, and a later Hawk50 model would allow operations from 50° north and south of the equator, to cover Japan and North America.[3]
The same day, SoftBank invested $125 million in
In August 2019, the FAA allowed the HAWK30 to fly in the stratosphere above Hawaii in FY2019, within the Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex.[4] On September 11, the prototype Hawk30 first flew at low altitude in restricted airspace at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. Stratospheric flight tests up to 65,000 ft are expected to start before March 31, 2020, from the Hawaiian island of Lanai.[2] Built in
On 21–22 September 2020, the HAPSMobile Hawk30 (rebranded as Sunglider) flew 20 hours from Spaceport America, and reached an altitude of 62,500 ft (19.1 km) on its fifth demonstration flight. It tested the long-distance
Design
The Hawk30 flying-wing is a development of the
The system would provide
See also
- NASA Pathfinder (First flew in June 1983)
- NASA Centurion (First flight 10 November 1998)
- NASA/AeroVironment Helios Prototype(First flight 8 September 1999)
- QinetiQ/Airbus Zephyr (First flight in 2008)
- Facebook Aquila (First flight 28 June 2016)
- BAE Systems PHASA-35 (First flight 17 February 2020)
References
- ^ "AeroVironment Announces Joint Venture and Solar High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System Development Program" (Press release). AeroVironment. 3 January 2018.
- ^ a b c Graham Warwick (16 September 2019). "The Week In Technology, Sept. 16-20, 2019". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
- ^ a b c d e Graham Warwick (29 April 2019). "The Week In Technology, April 29-May 3, 2019". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
- ^ Garrett Reim (15 August 2019). "HAWK30 pseudo-satellite approved for test flights above Hawaii". Flightglobal.
- ^ Garrett Reim (15 June 2020). "HAPSMobile to flight test high-altitude, pseudo satellite HAWK30 in New Mexico". Flightglobal.
- ^ Garrett Reim (8 October 2020). "HAPSMobile Sunglider reaches 63,000ft, demos broadband transmission". Flightglobal.
- ^ Garrett Reim (2 May 2019). "AeroVironment builds first HAWK30 pseudo-satellite". Flightglobal.
External links
- Official website
- "Bridging the Digital Divide with Aviation in the Stratosphere" (PDF). HAPS Alliance. 22 September 2021.