The solar-powered aircraft flying high in the atmosphere | BBC News

[@SeaUrchinFilms]

My mate Robert can also stay high for weeks, but nobody talks about this genius.

[@david9783]

Good one!

[@DaVe-iSnOtHoMe.MaN.LemmingsWeB]

Buddy 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 30% of the 20-35 yr old smoke cannabis more than3 a day

[@l88ch3r]

Bob sounds like a chill dude.

[@andyman3309]

We all know a Robert

[@mattsandilands6380]

I’ve been up there for about 35 years (so far) and not a solar panel in sight.

[@NoWindNoSunNoPower]

My wife’s luggage weighs more.

[@titteryenot4524]

‘Wife’?! Lol. She has my deepest sympathies! 👍🤣

[@BLVCKSCORP]

@@titteryenot4524 Damn dude, no need to be that savage

[@mill2712]

For my American friends, that's 165+ lbs. What's she moving around?

[@nnyom7363]

LMFAOOOOOOOO

[@titteryenot4524]

@@BLVCKSCORP Ach, it’s just a wee bit of good old British banter, son. Nothing ‘savage’ about it.👍

[@felix__cs9916]

There is something so peacefully about it

[@barskarakas4927]

When my country Turkiye was struck by two massive earthquakes last year one of the most crucial disfunction was the lack of communication. We made a grave mistake by installing majority of the cell towers on top of the residential buildings. In the earthquake most of them were collapsed. This is a remarkable platform for cases like that.

[@fletcherjacobs3688]

Thanks I didn’t think of that aspect. I was stuck on how vulnerable they are in their own way.

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

The more robust alternative is the solar covered and powered airships.. they can remain airborne carrying a greater payload.. longer and are less fragile caught in weather. BBC have also covered these previously. The idea of using hybrid air vehicles to provide emergency communications and disaster relief using aero stats goes back to Skycat if not earlier ... and the Banda Achai Indonesia Thailand boxing day Earthquake and Indian ocean Tsunami. DARPA initially funded the current flying prototype .. for use over Afghanistan .. Long endurance intelligence gathering and monitoring and ground coordination.

[@vitalyl1327]

Also, just LORAWan and alike - insane range, dirt cheap transceivers.

[@nikotakai8796]

​@@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665 I can't find something about solar covered airships from the BBC.

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

@@nikotakai8796 try looking Aviation. Stratoplanes . The aircraft that fly at the edge of space. . In case untube deletes the link. 🙄 The algorithm gets ridiculous.

[@justme.9711]

" A solution looking for a problem ". Nailed it!

[@RealWatch1]

the only gull shaped entity that's not annoying

[@daheikkinen]

The Alpha Gull

[@concinnus]

I dunno, the DeLorean is pretty cool.

[@Hebdomad7]

@@concinnus Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Was way ahead of it's time in styling.

[@concinnus]

@@Hebdomad7 Sure, but I've not see one in person, whereas I have seen (ridden my motorcycle behind) a DeLorean, so I can vouch for its coolness.

[@legitbeans9078]

This one probably wont fly off with your sandwich too 😭

[@thomHD]

Am I the only one who thinks the interviewer and the interviewee look like twins

[@marcosrafael6858]

Glad you also noticed!

[@filthyrando3632]

AI generate me a video where two completely different looking British men talk to each other. AI: On it!

[@Coolcarting]

Yes

[@Imthefake]

that would explain why the interviewer doesn't bring up starlink when eh talks about the limits of satellite communication

[@ogaduby]

@@Imthefake He actually did, though maybe not by name directly. He also never mentions any other companies or brands... But he did say how expensive the whole space ordeal is, especially compared to this program... Besides, you need special equipment for Starlink - their dish.

[@mtssman]

I assume the Zephyr can serve as a mobile station or earth observation would weight far more than 75 kg, meaning current performance is defined by flying naked with zero payload.

[@Asdfghjkl-ls1or]

Yh for sure, the weight would increase. If the battery tech improves enough and they get denser it could be viable

[@AlexusMaximusDE]

Yes, but current performance as described in the video also means that they are fully charged "by noon". So there is some headroom.

[@Asdfghjkl-ls1or]

@AlexusMaximusDE shouldn't matter, the solar panels probably don't account for much of the weight and aren't a limiting factor. Think of a phone that charges in 20 mins but only lasts 2 hours, not very practical

[@PakistanidramasN3D]

yep. telecom equipment are heavy and require good amount of power to function which means more batteries on board.

[@PakistanidramasN3D]

@@Asdfghjkl-ls1or every gram matters, as said in the video.

[@Alienalloy]

I met mr Kelly on a job…. He’s such a nice guy, he is what you see.

[@placeholdername0000]

"We have U2 spyplane at home" U2 spyplane at home:

[@erickborling1302]

It's too light to carry anything not involved in basic flight / nav.

[@jonthebru]

I would love an FM broadcast transmitter on an aircraft like this. It would cover a huge region with no mountains or buildings to block the signal.

[@emmakai2243]

I'm no expert, but doesn't radio transmission for any significant distance require significant power? They're already 5-6 miles up

[@g2em3]

Or LORA

[@JBBost]

@@emmakai2243 The video was only 8 minutes and clearly neither you or OP watched it as these issues are discussed

[@CocoNut2018]

​@@emmakai2243Yes. Lots of power.

[@emmakai2243]

@@JBBost No I didn't retain every single bit of info, where did it refer to FM radio power needs?

[@Abelitokandie]

Proud of my country Kenya 🇰🇪 being selected as the launch station.

[@simonkimani9532]

Daima mkenya.....but ruto must go

[@Redzwan]

Congrats UK researchers. Hope it would be a pioneer to something amazing.

[@PickpocketJones]

Aurora Flight Sciences had multiple models of unmanned aircraft flying 80-100,000 feet up for months at a time over 30 years ago. This one looks lighter and more advanced as it should 30 years later but this isn't that pioneering.

[@sonikblox]

The thing that really gets me about these is how similar they look to the Wright bros original plane, super efficient twin propeller design, thin long wing as light as possible, every piece optimized, skin covering over frame. Incredibly similar to that plane well over a century ago.

[@cassidottir]

I agree

[@kenbakker3241]

I kind of guess that landing and recovery is like when your neighbour's trampoline blows into your yard?

[@erickborling1302]

They"ll certainly be waiting for a calm-wind-day to land it.

[@aaltohaps]

It was fantastic to see our Zephyr High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) covered in this BBC Click episode! Our Zephyr HAPS may look and sound very sci-fi, but it's very real, and we're excited to be commercialising the technology with an aspiration to help improve and save lives.

[@___beyondhorizon4664]

California has mostly calm weather too 😊

[@HerodotusVon]

How do you communicate with the plane in order to control it autonomously over areas without cell cover? Is it by satellite? And do the altitudes the planes may use conflict with other planes? Like if 10 years from now, 30% of the US cell network demand is covered by zephyr planes, how disruptive is that to other planes and rocket launches

[@SirusStarTV]

Are they visible when satellite photographs earth map images?

[@atlasfeynman1039]

If it's solar array is so efficient that it charges the battery by noon and then relies on that battery to keep it aloft at night, then why not put another battery in for each wing and propeller?

[@explorer_1113]

@@atlasfeynman1039 Significant weight increase, more power needed to keep it aloft, and it isn't needed. What would adding batteries for each wing or propeller achieve? It doesn't need more battery juice, as it can recharge after every night.

[@orestisvas7277]

I remember watching a documentary about 15 years ago for the Helios plane which was the same thing

[@Powertampa]

64 days was also the record for the longest continuous flight by man.

[@macccu]

there is no man though

[@Crusader47]

@@macccu no shit

[@erickborling1302]

Never heard of it. I do not trust your comment!

[@frankwaldeck2359]

My parents always told me I could have things when cows fly. 😊 Time to collect ❤😂

[@Toshibaq]

Pigs mate … pigs

[@ReinhardX]

🤣

[@ChelleLlewes]

I've been sitting here wondering how to make it jump over the moon! 😂😛

[@TomGodson95]

😂

[@GM-qq1wi]

If you look closely, you'll realise it's actually not a cow.

[@GermanGreetings]

The shape of the plane is so interesting. When I was a child, we built model airplanes like 'der kleine UHU' (the small UHU), a model Kit sold by Graupner for beginners: so without remote control... Even those small planes 60 years were so good in the air, that they needed a timer for not flying away too far. I flew my one without timer... and lost it somewhere 'up there', fading in the fog five valleys further maybe, ...we didn`t find it again. The hughe plane shown in this video looks so much more mature... it cries for raising into the sky :) I like that project, because I have a feeling, how effictive it will be in it`s element. You can start from everywhere, you can start 'at once', as needed... and it`s zero emission. Thank you BBC for these impressions.

[@takudzwamashamba7453]

I grew up watching click & im realizing that my tech affinity started here

[@gluetubeserver]

This is why we we need fund public journalism

[@AeromatterYT]

Love this style of science coverage, feels like a lot of local projects are being shut down at the moment so it's reassuring to see one going strong pushing the boundaries

[@GrandpaVince]

Finally someone listened to vincey and got eyes in the sky

[@bromander_]

The only thing left when humanity is gone is the Zephyr, slowly sinking and rising with the sun, way above any old forgotten civilization.

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

Okay I have one small problem with the whole "it will replace 200 cell towers" part. Will the phones be able to transmit back? It's a 2-way communication lol. If a cell tower is 1 unit away from you and that thing replaces 200 cell towers, which means roughly a 14x14 tower grid, you will be as much as 7 times further from a tower. The inverse square law tells you that 7 times increase in distance means 7^3 times increase in losses. Your phone will have to transmit at a 343 times higher power output for the same reception and that is not accounting for weather and you know things like... LIVING ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF A 20 STOREY CONCRETE BUILDING as that antenna will be transmitting and receiving straight down. I'm tired of people that think radio is just magic...

[@ThePalisky]

Research ASTS, this problem is already solved...5G broadband direct to unmodified cell phones from space.

[@TheMightyHams]

@@ThePalisky You seem to be ignoring the fact that ASTS BlueWalker 3 is 1500kg, has a phased array with an area of 64 square metres to allow for signal to be detected from phones, and the entire upper surface of that array is composed of solar panels to power it. Not to mention that this is just a test-bed, and the commercial satellite will likely be significantly bigger. This aircraft on the other hand, while at a lower altitude, will have strict size and weight limitations as well as requiring the majority of its battery capacity to power the props. It will be incredibly challenging to design it to be functional as they describe, and I hesitate to believe that current battery technology is at a state that could support such a system right now.

[@ThePalisky]

@@TheMightyHams you say all that like it refutes anything I said lol. Yes ASTS's solution is obviously superior and the sats are bigger.

[@TheMightyHams]

@@ThePalisky I'm not refuting ASTS's efforts. I assumed your response to the OP was challenging his opinions on the abilities of THIS aircraft by saying that their issues have 'already been solved'

[@ThePalisky]

@@TheMightyHams I said 'this problem' referring to the cell towers from far away (the subject matter OP is talking about) not 'their issues' you're attributing to the aircraft. Reading comprehension is a lost art.

[@georgeolson3996]

The first aircraft of this type was flown in the 1960s by Bob Boucher in California. It was balsa wood and spruce had solar cells generation 1.0 and NickelCadmium batteries. It used a DC Brushed electric motor.

[@andyg3]

Clever people doing clever things. Good stuff

[@dawa123ful]

Going Clean Energy and Sustainable is the way forward.. thank you Zephyr ❤

[@stephenallen4374]

GPS communications if there's an outage it could use for mobile phone base stations as an engineer it sounds like a lot of fun to work on and make it better

[@erickborling1302]

So how will the plane navigate with a GPS satellite outage?

[@rabbi.rahman]

thank you BBC for brining back Spencer Kelly and BBC Click

[@francisdebriey3609]

Thanks to pioneer Bertrand Piccard...

[@sssun7]

We were there before you guys. 60k plus feet. Planning to fly and stay around for atleast 3 months. A happy note from india.😊

[@renaissanceman5847]

It can replace 200 cell towers on the ground.... Until it fails and the equivalent of 2,000 square miles goes off line.

[@CheapFlashyLoris]

Probably better than nothing in a disaster zone, especially if you're trying to enable people who might be trapped with ordinary cell phones to get help (and thus you can't just bring in a Starlink terminal).

[@mattshu]

host moves like Jim Carey lol love it

[@1337iEpic]

months is a little underwhelming, I thought he was going to say that it can stay up there forever 😂

[@dante_Karis]

Kenya. I was super excited about that bit. My homeland

[@misterfunnybones]

Surveillance drone. Great glide ratio.

[@itsmini6175]

I do love progress and testing new ideas

[@alexkaranja3443]

This is remarkable.

[@xx133]

Yeah, it’s being used to surveil us. Not so remarkable

[@1erinjames]

This is prison

[@liamogorman3312]

It useless 😂 it can't carry anything and it batteries are horrible for the environment. If they can make it 1000s of times bigger then they could say they have something remarkable. Right now they have a paper plane with extra steps.

[@alexkaranja3443]

It's almost impossible to escape some form of surveillance in today's society... There are organisations that will find you whether you like it or not unless you have the means to hide.

[@PK-pp3lu]

@@liamogorman3312 It's the Wright brothers of a solar type aircraft, in its infancy.

[@MrMrHiggins]

Holy crap. 3:12. Enormously significant if this becomes worldwide as a system, that's an enormous amount of resources that can be put to better use.

[@kaede_yuna]

so it's basically a starlink for calling ur mum instead of gaming with your bros

[@Alex-cw3rz]

There is no reason it couldn't be used for Internet as well and if it were able to do that they it would make starlink obsolete, as it would be much cheaper, would not leave debris in the atmosphere and is better for the environment. It would also give more consistent coverage as it can stay over specific spots whereas starlink orbits.

[@kaede_yuna]

@@Alex-cw3rz true

[@HolyOllie]

itd be better for gaming as its closer to the ground so lower latency

[@sarkaranish]

@@Alex-cw3rz it could, but it would have to have really good battery technology which could power both the plane and the satellite internet service, plus have the scale to deploy it. Honestly I don't see these taking off like that, and in the case one of these crashes, there's a very real possibility of it damaging things and even killing people. Satellites burn up in the atmosphere.

[@matthiasknutzen6061]

These will have in theory better ping than starlink since they are much closer, 4G is enough to game 🤷

[@AncientExplorationCanada]

I can see a possibility of a modified aircraft like this in space exploration, specifically in the upper atmosphere of Venus where the temperatures are not so extreme. Imagine a capsule deploying this and being able to survey the surface, take atmospheric measurements, possibly look for signs of life in the Goldilocks zone of Venus. It's in the realm of possibility!

[@ericsynchrona5495]

Like a microfilm glider.

[@zephyr4620]

When they use your name for a plane it feels weird... But I'm glad I'm so majestic

[@johnhopkins6260]

Satellites: consider the amount of energy expended to get those few kilos in space. (i.e. they don't stay above "without power": mega joules of energy were applied to get them them aloft... as well as speeds to stay aloft)

[@tonytramonti5828]

I’m polish and I have my own company called Kurva space solutions Ltd, I make ballon using skin of 42,000 polish sausages. , it can fly to over 135.000 miles , it currently is in geostationary orbit , it make this zefer look like paper toy, I’m fully qualified electronics, physics, chemistry and nuclear engineer, I also have degree in maths , thermodynamics, biology,quantum mechanics,and palaeontology, but in UK where i live I work night shift in sausage packing factory, I’m best designer in world, like betman.

[@cassidottir]

You’re killing me here! LOL

[@Schmogel92]

This could become a highly localized star-link type network with flexible coverage depending on local usage. It would reduce the amount of space junk burning up in the atmosphere

[@rkan2]

Project Loon by Google already figured out how to do it with balloons without any active propulsion and semi-commercially at it too. Aand they binned it.

[@DemsW]

@@rkan2 I don't think baloons can stay at a designated place for very long, a plane can be somewhere specific for months, and then be recovered easily.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

At 70,000ft it wouldn't be that localised, it would be a lot cheaper and could stay over a site unlike star link. If they can make it work I imagine star-link would just become space junk and these would take over the same task, for much cheaper and much better for the atmosphere and environment

[@rkan2]

@@DemsW Yes they can; it was the exact goal of project Loon, which they reached. They provided commercial internet access in Puerto Rico, Peru and Kenya. Look it up.

[@plasmaman9592]

It would be funny if some companies were able to do this permanently and put starlink out of business because these probably cost a fraction of what it costs to put a star link up

[@wotireckon]

Isn't this just Starlink but lower down? You'd need a helluva lot of these. I don't think they've quite found the problem to the solution yet.

[@1erinjames]

Project zephyr

[@eestaashottentotti2242]

But if you can connect directly with normal cell phone without satellite connector and maybe faster speeds, that is much better.

[@worawatli8952]

It's just more flexible on where you want to put it. Starlink has best coverage, but it is in fixed orbit and much higher up which required a satellite dish, less localized signal than land based tower or glider like this which could talk to phone directly. Starlink phone isn't happening yet because it would need a big antenna, they couldn't figured out how to make it truly handheld yet.

[@jamesdellaneve9005]

@@worawatli8952Correct. Boeing has satellites that can talk to cell phones and the antenna in space is huge.

[@hardillb]

But it doesn't burn 100s of tons of fuel to launch or clutter low earth orbit increasing the chance of a Kessler incident...

[@procatprocat9647]

This is perfect for disaster zones !

[@Silenced01]

Oh look its the early stages of creating an arsenal bird.

[@maverickhunter_x]

This was my first reaction.

[@moiramoira853]

若かったらこういう会社で働きたいですね。世界を情報通信で平和にできる気がする。

[@created1991]

Starlink says hi....😂

[@joelvanwinkle5976]

It’s like an amateur model plane but solar powered. And capable of carrying a wide variety of instruments for scientific research

[@QUARK00]

With 5 of these,you can have full telecom company in a country.

[@ayoCC]

And they'll still charge 5% of monthly median income for it 😆

[@ThePalisky]

problem is ASTS already solved this...5G broadband direct to unmodified cell phones from space

[@liamogorman3312]

If your country only needs a signal for a day! These batteries won't last and the plane won't be able to stay up. Meanwhile you need 3 satellites to cover the whole world. This plane is a tiny step towards making passenger plane's electric but that's about it.

[@mrelad.]

flat earthers will go crazy with this one

[@SparrowHawk183]

Don't tell the Zephyr folks about Starlink... high speed internet + direct to cell text, voice, and data anywhere in the world already exists. 🤷‍♂️

[@ThePalisky]

Don't tell you that Starlink can't do high speed internet direct to cell, but ASTS can at broadband speeds in addition to all that you mentioned lmao

[@nic.h]

Be interesting to see estimates for total cost of ownership for both.

[@radfoxuk8113]

Don't say anything about the starlink sats failing all the time lol, or muskrat letting his politics screw his businesses. Zephyr could go where Starlink isn't allowed to, either because governments or militant groups prevent it legally and through jammers, also anti-sat weapons if war broke out, or because muskrat just does a racism.

[@SparrowHawk183]

@@ThePalisky Fact check: *BOTH* Starlink and AST SpaceMobile have demonstrated direct-to-cell voice and high-speed internet. But they are not equal: Starlink is faster and lower latency than AST. *Firstly, I dispise Elon Musk's politics, conduct, and power. The following is a compassion of technology.* The Starlink constellation is in low-earth orbit (LEO), giving it lower latency (~50ms). AST satellites will be in medium-earth orbit (MEO), and will have 3x higher latency (~150ms). AST currently only has 1 demo satellite in orbit in MEO (BlueWalker 3) used to demo direct-to-cell voice and data transfer, with download speed peaking at 14Mbps. Starlink has 38 and counting direct-to-cell capable satellites, and recently demonstrated a video call with a peak download speed of *17 Mbps.* Don't get me wrong, I think AST will likely be successful, especially with recent partnerships with major mobile providers like Verizon. More competition will hopefully keep prices from getting too insane. Ultimately, Starlink has an advantage with lower latency in LEO, unless Amazon's Kuiper constellation ever gets off the ground.

[@SparrowHawk183]

@@radfoxuk8113 Generally, I agree with your points. Although nothing would stop jamming either Starlink or Zephyr based radio signals. It's good to have options. But it seems that Zephyr has a long way to go to demonstrate its potential.

[@icarusericson4177]

Its the future... Salute you from Bangladesh

[@wilderbeestmcc6539]

British people are eccentric in nature 😃we invent things because we have enquiring minds and the usage usually follows…👍🇬🇧

[@GA-yv3zw]

Why not a launch battery. It uses the battery to push the plane at full throttle through the weather and then when it’s depleted it’s dropped with a small parachute and retrieved. This would allow them to launch the plane anywhere and even from boats like for the military.

[@gavinteague864]

odd how he admits that to handle the bandwidth of modern cell systems a low earth orbit satellite would need to be enormously big and expensive but plans to put the same capability on a 75 kg aircraft...

[@spinav8r]

The big difference is in altitude which allows a standard cell phone the ability to have two-way communication with this unmanned aircraft. The plane would act as a super tall cell tower. You can't do that with a satellite. You would need a special satellite phone for that.

[@gavinteague864]

@@spinav8r Newest generation of Starlink is already performing direct-to-cell capabilities, with no different handset needed. So that kinda disproves that. And cruising at 75000ft already loses the line of sight benefit of cell towers by placing the receiver on the other side of the entire weather layer from the handset.

[@gavinteague864]

@@spinav8r A cell tower is less than 1000 ft, this cruises around 15 miles, LEO satellite constellations are around 250-350 miles, GEO are around 22,000 miles. This plane is kinda just another intermediate step in that chain of options, so it will have tradeoffs of both its lower and higher altitude alternatives. It can't magically do the same job and be lighter than both satellite or cell tower equipment packages

[@denniskabera5707]

Am just proud to be a kenyan where the solar powered aircraft will be launched

[@3d1e00]

This technology feels 40 years too late. Should aim for low cost solutions for companies who can't afford orbit.

[@KEZAMINE]

You're 40 years too late

[@KludgeMaker]

Everything about climate change is 40 years too late. We will pay dearly for our ignorance, arrogance, and greed.

[@Mxy-ff4zk]

It's rare to see a host so excited about their topic

[@WarlordEnthusiast]

A business owner who actually knows their company and can answer questions, very refreshing.

[@peter_shadow7559]

Planned questions and practiced answers

[@NEEQOS]

This is a groundbreaking step to fixing the global warming problem.

[@relaxrelax3772]

Starlink has already made this obsolete since it is able to connect with mobile phones.

[@christerpkarlsson72]

Maybe these aircrafts will take Starlink out of business?

[@RicardoMusch]

If this works then I would argue that having ultralight re-usable planes like these is cheaper and more environmental friendly than launching thousands of satellites into space that burn up every 5 years. Furthermore there have already been near accidents between space junk and satellites.

[@MasterYoda-e2q]

But it crowds up our orbit and greatly increases the probability of space junk ruining all the satellites. We're pretty fucked if that happens, this could be an alternative to some things

[@rasimbot]

@@RicardoMusch | Satellites burn up completely when deorbiting. Cases when some parts reach the surface are very rare. Nothing is perfect, and if you populate stratosphere with tens of thousands of these planes they will sometimes fall due to malfunctions creating junk and endangering the regular air traffic and people on the surface. The specific payload capability of solar planes is extremely low, and they should be 100 times larger to carry a meaningful payload like cell-station. So you should add a whole plane with a wingspan of a regular airliner to each cell-station

[@V01DIORE]

6:41 they went over this.

[@riveteye93]

Imagine a line of these, connected by wire so that the sun never sets on the chain, the planes in the shade getting charge from the ones in the sunlight. Obviously, the weather will be a real challenge to solve, but a giant structure like that could change the world.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Starlink could be getting some competition.

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

The launch really isn't a problem, you can launch from air at a high altitude if this was to serve in disaster zones etc

[@marcinhibner9507]

Are all the comments for real? :)

[@WhatMeWorry1213]

On KZbin, many of those generic, non-specific comments are paid-for, AI-generated by site owners to generate more revenue. I don't see any of those here ... a couple of nonsense "Hi from xxxx", or those immature "First" posts are always scattered around ... but they're real.

[@micstonemic696stone]

I am impressed, especially that it can stay powered overnight, and battery Cycles being the only limiting factor 👍👍

[@davesky538]

One super volcanic erruption brings it down.

[@melissaleigh8019]

😂

[@TheKeirsunishi]

So one is lost every 100 years

[@POLICECAMERA6688]

How impressive is solar powered aircraft technology! This is a big step forward in protecting the environment and reducing emissions. BBC News always brings interesting and useful information.

[@boeingpameesha9550]

Technology at it's best. My sincere thanks for sharing it.

[@MaskedMarble]

I hope this contraption doesn't have a malfunction, drop to 30,000 ft, and collide with a passenger aircraft.

[@musaumichael6418]

KENYA - The country of all possibilities.

[@PlanJ117]

This will create something incredible in the near future, I can feel it.

[@thetafritz9868]

side effect, blocks a tiny amount of sunlight without creating a shadow (bc its in the stratosphere) and helps cool the earth the tiniest bit (by blocking a small amount of sun)

[@briankiprotich4821]

Kenya my motherland ❤

[@ChadWilson]

Sometimes just seeing what you can do is worth the journey. This craft may never have a commercial purpose, but what they are learning and is invaluable.

[@peterswinson326]

i'm afraid starlink has already achieved direct to mobile connection, so that's that avenue closed, it was a good idea at the time but I suspect has limited use now

[@williamyamm8803]

Amazing !!!! Greetings from France

[@winni2701]

That's super clever, instead of using more batteries the plane rises up to increase it's potential energy and no additional mass is required for that. Mindblown

[@klauskraut5417]

Lucky guy that took the photo of the aircraft!

[@urbanstrencan]

What an awesome tech, this would be truly great solution for remote locations to get signal in emergency situation 😊❤

[@faequeenapril6921]

As someone that has done GIS and earth observation before, this would be invaluable for researchers. I personally dont think its a good idea to clog up the stratosphere just for phones.

[@TeamYankee2]

It should have a detachable batery and propellor unit... so that it can climb a lot faster and once it's depleted it drops off with a parachute landing... the Zephyr continues onwards above the weather...

[@thomasr1051]

Really cool concept. I hope it continues to develop

[@douglassauvageau7262]

It would be proper to acknowledge Dr. Paul MacCready as the progenitor of these concepts.

[@Monkey_D_Luffy56]

This is one of the case that when you see it and know nothing about the project you'll think it's an alien

[@flyboyone]

Congratulations, very impressive.

[@Dev1nci]

Fly away on my zephyr I feel it more than ever And in this perfect weather We'll find a place together

[@sammyngatia2612]

I live to love this invention from kenya where where I am we are dying to see it through

[@plasmaman9592]

I would like this as a ham radio repeater

[@blahsomethingclever]

Solar thermal balloons also stay up, for up to a year. Uv degradation is limiting Factor. Much cheaper. There is one more type of 'balloon' that can stay up for decades AND maneuver, ceiling is 300k unloaded. Also steerable. No one else has thought of it yet though.

[@JerryMuddle]

Love innovations like this.

[@tanshugohli]

This guy is genius

[@darkusaurelius]

Stay operational in the stratosphere for extended periods or time? Yes. Indefinitely? No. There's friction involved in parts like the propeller, so even if you had an extremely efficient and long lasting battery, you would still need to service the aircraft even if the propeller parts were made out of tungsten carbide.

[@garysmith5025]

It's not unreasonable to assume an electric motor operating in a dry, dust free, environment could run for many tens of thousands of hours, i.e. several years, without maintenance. Hard drives have been doing it for decades, even HVAC systems often have fans that run 24/7 for years at a time. Chances are you'd be wanting to upgrade the payload on a annual basis anyway, something you can't do with satellites.

[@Spencergolde]

Love the implication that something pristinely natural and untouched by man is waiting to be conquered. Not that an electric pseudosat is going to cause any significant disruption up there, it's just the pure British overtones that get me