NASA's Altair unmanned air vehicle (UAV) made its first flight from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' flight test site at El Mirage, California, on 9 June. The Honeywell TPE331-10T turboprop-powered UAV is derived from General Atomics' military Predator B, but with a larger, 26.2m (86ft) span wing for greater altitude, range and endurance.
Altair will be used by NASA to help prove technology to enable UAVs to be operated in US national airspace. It will also be used on environmental science flights such as atmospheric sampling and forest fire monitoring.
Altair - one of several civil platforms developed or matured under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology programme - is expected to be the first UAV to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements, allowing operations from conventional airports. The UAV has triple-redundant avionics, and is configured with a fault-tolerant, dual-architecture flight control system.
Altair will also be equipped with an automated collision-avoidance system. An air traffic control voice relay allows controllers to talk to ground-based Altair pilots via the air vehicle.
Equipped to carry up to 340kg (750lb) payload, the 10.4m-long UAV will have a range of 7,770km (4,200nm), a maximum altitude of 52,000ft and an endurance of up to 32h.
Source: Flight International
