Lockheed Martin has completed preliminary design of the prototype for a large, long-endurance, unmanned airship that would maintain a geostationary position in the stratosphere to act as a platform for telecommunications relay, resources management or military surveillance.
The company's plant in Akron, Ohio, has a long history of airship manufacturing and is to be system integrator for Stratcom International's programme to field a network of geostationary airships.
The team has completed the concept feasibility phase and is raising funds to build a demonstration vehicle. The prototype, with an 85,000m³ (3 million ft³) envelope, would carry a 450kg (1,000lb) payload and remain on station at 71,000ft (21,000m) for one week.
This compares with the 150,000m³ operational vehicle, which would carry a 1,800kg payload and stay on station "for a year or more", says Ron Browning, business development director, Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems - Akron.
The Akron plant certificated the Goodyear GZ-22 airship in 1989, and continues to support the company's fleet of advertising blimps, as well as producing tethered radar-carrying aerostats for the military, Browning says.
Stratospheric airships will require new materials, power generation and propulsion technology, he says. Lockheed Martin is developing materials able to withstand the high solar intensity, ozone concentration and ultraviolet radiation at 70,000ft, while minimising helium leakage and contamination over long periods on station. Electrical power generation for propulsion and payload will be provided by thin-film photovoltaic arrays and regenerative fuel cells.
The Stratcom/Lockheed Martin team hopes to fly the prototype airship in 12-15 months, says Browning. The operational vehicle could enter service 18 months later.
A similar concept is being pursued by Sky Station International.
Source: Flight International