Boeing to launch solar-powered autonomous aircraft next year

Aircraft manufacturing company Boeing is prepping to launch a new solar-powered autonomous aircraft that will be used to study climate.

A subsidiary of Boeing, Aurora Flight Sciences, is soon going to launch a solar-powered autonomous aircraft named Odysseus, in order to fly at high altitudes for longer endurance and conduct research on climate and atmosphere.

Weighing less than a smart car, Odysseus is fitted with advanced solar cells and built by light-weight materials that help it for persistent flights at high altitudes. The company explains it as a cross between a drone and a satellite that will fly above weather and other aircraft. The aircraft can cover a vast geographic area, maintaining contact with a ground station at the same time, reported Engadget.

Because it’s solar-powered, Odysseus can fly continuously for months at a time, giving it a unique advantage over other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that usually need to land and recharge. Being solar-powered also benefits Odysseus since it produces zero emissions.

When airborne, the plane can collect data and quickly communicate it to the ground station. Odysseus will primarily be used for gathering environmental information like measuring ice coverage, and for performing weather and storm monitoring. However, Aurora claims that the craft can be used for communication, connectivity, intelligence missions, and help in emergency natural disasters too.

Aurora explained that Odysseus can carry larger payload than any other aircraft in development or production in its class. This trait allows more missions and better resulting data quality from each mission.

Moreover, the autonomous aircraft is largely adaptable and reconfigurable, which means that the craft can also be re-positioned and reprogrammed mid-flight as per mission requirements or technology advancements. The first flight for Odysseus is scheduled to spring 2019.