Airbus subsidiary AALTO has launched its first stratospheric flight with a Zephyr air vehicle from a new operating base in Kenya.
Following its launch on 20 January, the solar-powered, ultra-long-endurance aircraft climbed to 60,000ft, for a sortie of an undisclosed duration. The longest Zephyr flight conducted to date lasted 64 days, with the aircraft able to reach a maximum altitude of 75,000ft.
“Over the coming days, AALTO will be conducting its first tests from the stratosphere this year,” the company said on 22 January.
The activity is being performed from the company’s purpose-built AALTOport launch and recovery facility in Kenya’s Laikipia County, construction of which was completed last year.
Notably, the current flight involved the use of a new launch platform named ELVIS, which enabled the 25m (82ft)-wingspan aircraft to get airborne. With a maximum take-off weight of 75kg (165lb), the Zephyr had previously been hand-launched by multiple ground crew.
“Through their support, national authorities led by the Kenya Space Agency and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority have demonstrated their vision to champion cutting-edge aerospace technologies,” says AALTO, while hailing the African nation’s “pioneering regulatory landscape”.
“It is a key milestone on our roadmap to utilise HAPS [high-altitude, pseudo satellites] to provide connectivity and Earth observation services to those that need it most,” AALTO says of the current test flight.
