New design algorithm and reliability testing of solar powered near-space flight vehicle for defense and security

Abstract

Broadband telecommunications have become the key factor for economic growths around the world, but rural and hard to reach areas are missing out on the  opportunity. To overcome this problem, we propose a pseudo-satellite system where  telecommunication devices are carried on a perpetually flying solar aircraft cruising at stratospheric altitude. Our aircraft will combine lighter-than-air technology to augment the lift from the wing. Every major components contributing to the aircraft total weight has been considered, resulting in a range of design solutions. We chose wing span and aspect ratio of 50m and 13 respectively, from which other specifications of the aircraft were fixed to. Our design solution has been validated by power and weight balance analysis. System reliability has been demonstrated by Monte Carlo simulation.

Keywords: inflatable aircraft; lighter-than-air; solar aircraft; high amplitude platform (HAP).