India's Pseudo-Satellite: Solar Plane That Can Fly For 90 Days At A Time
NDTV
The National Aerospace Laboratories said the final version will have a wingspan which will be as wide as an Airbus 320, but weigh only as much as a regular motorcycle.
In what will be a significant addition to India's arsenal, scientists have been developing a solar-powered plane that can fly up to 90 days at a stretch, and a smaller version has been flown successfully for ten hours.
Called a High-Altitude Platform (HAP), it has been developed by the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru. HAP is a solar-powered autonomous unmanned aircraft flying at stratospheric levels and is capable of day-and-night operations at altitudes of 17-20 km with an endurance of months. A HAP with a payload is often referred to as a High-Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS).
A startup in Bengaluru called New Space Research and Technologies has also developed a similar prototype with 24-hour endurance.
