Christchurch-based company Kea Aerospace has successfully completed a solar-powered flight to the stratosphere in a milestone for New Zealand's aerospace sector.
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle flight took the Kea Atmos Mk1b to an altitude of 56,284 feet after taking off from the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre south of Banks Peninsula at 8.07am on Saturday, February 8.
The aircraft flew for eight hours and 20 minutes – covering a total flight distance of 420km – before landing at 5.27pm, Kea Aerospace said in a statement.
The Kea Atmos – designed to carry payloads for earth observation, telecommunications, and technology testing – is a 12.5-metre wingspan aircraft weighing less than 40kg.
It uses solar power, eliminating the need for refuelling and significantly reducing its carbon footprint,
Kea Aerospace CEO Mark Rocket, who founded the company in 2018, said the successful stratospheric flight "puts Kea Aerospace alongside just a handful of other international companies that can achieve solar-powered flight to high altitudes".
"It’s not an easy enterprise to balance the aerodynamic, power and weight allowances for this type of aircraft, whilst flying in conditions of -50 degrees Celsius with only 10% of the air density we experience at sea level.
"Kudos and congratulations to our CTO, Dr Philipp Sueltrop, and the Kea Aerospace team – it’s a phenomenal result to join the rarified stratospheric club."
Centurion, a remotely piloted solar-powered airplane developed under NASA’s Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology project at Edwards, California, was thought to have achieved the highest such flight — reaching 80,201 feet in the summer of 1998.
Kea Aerospace was due to begin the design phase of the larger Kea Atmos Mk2 aircraft, aiming for multi-month endurance flights.
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