Stratellite Stratellite is a huge solar-powered airship that will be used to transmit wireless communications at 65,000 feet above the

Earth. A company called Sanswire Networks builds This specialized airship. The high altitude platform (HAP) concept embodied by Stratellite is not new.The recent airship development has beenmade possible due to the advances in lightweight materials and by new power possibilities stemming from advances in solar technology, energy storage,energy management, and propulsion. a demonstration airship will be ready by 2011. Stratellite will cover a 500 km radius footprint for very high frequency (VHF), based on the frequency used. a 250 km footprint is possible if UHF is also made use of. Theairship will float using the buoyancy of the lifting gas, also assisted by the propulsion units. A thin-film PhotoVoltaic cell array will be located on the top of the airship. Batteries will be used through the night cycle. A (GPS) guided and ground controlled system is being considered. The airship will remain afloat upto 1 and half years and can be grounded easily. Point-to-point links will bring the bandwidth up to the airship. bandwidth will be assigned to the different transponders by Routers and switches within the airship. Point-to multipoint radios will distribute the bandwidth to the CPE units on the ground and the Optional ground repeaters will act as fill-in units.

A New Revolution In Aviation Or One Other Dot Com Bust?

Various years ago a number of teams of people determined that the world of aviation was ready for one more revolution - the introduction of very light jets. These jets would weigh less than 10,000 pounds, be operated by one pilot, carry four-5 passengers at forty one,000 toes over 1,000 nautical miles, and operate off of small municipal airports with runways solely three,000 feet long. These new plane are known as very gentle jets - vljs and are expected to be bought by air taxi operators and owner/pilots making the transition from piston or turboprop plane to turbojets. Depending upon whom you hearken to this market will explode producing thousands of aircraft over the subsequent ten years, or it is just a new manner for investors to lose thousands and thousands of {dollars} in one other dot com bust. Some fear that the air transport system in the United States will be unable to accommodate all of these new aircraft, a truth which might be untrue. Whereas these new vljs will operate at the identical altitudes as commercial airliners, few will enterprise into the foremost airports. After all, the advantage of these new small jets is their ability to operate out of the smaller satellite airports in many communities all through the United States. Additional, there is still a whole lot of sky out there, and it's unlikely to overburden the current system. A extra significant concern is whether or not there actually is a marketplace for these aircraft. One manufacturer, Eclipse Aviation, is manufacturing a new aircraft just lately certified by the FAA utilizing new technology which permits assembly line development of the aircraft with fewer employees than the traditional manufacturing technique of riveting aluminum. Despite these projected efficiencies, Eclipse will still need to provide no less than 500 aircraft per 12 months to break even. But Eclipse is not the one player in this game. Cessna Aircraft Company has certified its Cessna Quotation Mustang, and others are getting close. Adam Plane's A seven-hundred jet is close, and Honda will manufacture the Honda Jet, Embraer the Phenom a hundred and now Piper Plane has launched its new Piper Jet. There are presently some twelve manufacturers pursuing this market. To understand the difficulty it ought to be noted that in 2006 a total of 629 enterprise jets had been manufactured in the first three quarters, which works out to an annual fee of 840 business jets for 2006. For Eclipse to promote 500 new very light jets per year would clearly be a significant accomplishment, contemplating all the competitors it faces. For essentially the most part Eclipse, and the brand new dot commers, really feel the market lies in the air taxi business. It is a market the place small jets operate frequently from and to small airports which are nearer to businesses. To accomplish this goal requires numerous plane as a result of each of these small jets seats solely 4 or 5 passengers. Another problem is where the pilots will come from. So, the question is, is that this to be one other dot com bust, or the dawn of a new period in aviation? Solely time will tell. JMW - "Crusty Captain"