reposting incase relevant, moar talk of high-altitude drones, pseudo-satellites, 5g++
SoftBank Hopes Its Solar Internet Drone Will Soar Where Facebook’s and Google’s Sank
>A stratospheric Hawk 30 prototype will begin its maiden flight at a NASA base within days
A secretive joint venture between SoftBank and U.S. aerospace company AeroVironment is poised to launch an experimental solar-powered drone to deliver connectivity for 5G and the Internet of Things.
The Hawk 30 will have a curved “flying wing” design similar to a series of high-altitude solar drones that AeroVironment made for NASA twenty years ago. Filings with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission suggest the new Hawk will have 10 electric engines and an operational altitude of over 20 kilometers.
According to a Space Act Agreement [PDF] signed with NASA in November, the prototype drone could take to the air for the first time at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California as soon as this week. The initial agreement with NASA covers a series of flight tests over the next three months, up to an altitude of 3 kilometers.
AeroVironment did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
AeroVironment is paying NASA nearly $800,000 to supervise and provide ground support for the upcoming low altitude tests, which are scheduled to continue until the end of June. If those are successful, the company will go higher in its next round.
“The project envisions testing in varied environments, including significantly higher altitudes. AeroVironment will return to the Commission to seek the necessary authorizations relating to higher altitudes,” the company told the FCC.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/softbank-hopes-its-solar-internet-drone-will-soar-where-facebooks-and-googles-sank