Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
A US company plans to begin operations in 2000 with a communications-relay aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. A proof-of-concept aircraft is under construction at Rutan's Scaled Composites and is to be flown in mid-1998.
Angel Technologies of St Louis, Missouri, says that it is "on track" in raising the $140 million required to certificate the High Altitude, Long Operation (HALO) aircraft and field the first system. The aircraft would be flown in an orbit 52,000-60,000ft (15,900-18,300m) above a major city, providing cellular telephone and broadband data services. A continuous presence will require three aircraft per system, says Angel chairman Marc Arnold.
The HALO is the first application of Rutan's Proteus, an all-composite aircraft with a canard layout and two Williams Rolls FJ44-2 turbofans. Wingspan is 24.1m, which can be increased to 28m by extending the wingtips. The Proteus is designed to remain on station for up to 18h at altitudes between 50,000ft and 65,000ft.
Angel plans to operate its HALOs in shifts, with an aircraft remaining on station for 8h, plus 1h to climb and 1h to descend. Two aircraft would provide 24h coverage, with the third as a "hot" spare. The aircraft, flown by two pilots, would maintain a wind-corrected circular orbit of 9-15km diameter around a fixed waypoint. A 6.1m-diameter pod under the fuselage, mechanically stabilised in pitch and roll, will house the communications antenna.
Arnold says that the primary payload will be for millimetre-wave data communications, and Angel plans to negotiate partnership agreements with companies holding the appropriate frequency-spectrum licences so that it can provide services to complement terrestrial and satellite links. Outside the USA, Angel plans to form joint ventures with telecommunications service providers.
Scaled Composite's parent company Wyman-Gordon is funding development of the Proteus and is a "strategic partner" in Angel's HALO programme. Plans call for the aircraft to be certificated and produced at Rutan's Scaled Technology Works in Montana. The aircraft will be certificated to US Part 25 standards.
The aircraft would be operated above weather and air traffic and would provide a communications "footprint" 90-140km in diameter at millimetre-wave frequencies.
Source: Flight International
