Global Flight Systems today unveiled the Eos-Alpha, a fully autonomous solar-powered drone designed for continuous day and night flight at low altitude. On its inaugural flight, the Eos-Alpha remained aloft for more than 27 hours, securing its position as the 4th team in history to achieve continuous day and night flight with a solar-powered aircraft. The Eos-Alpha was launched on June 28th, 8:20 am EST and was retrieved at 11:45 am EST the following day.
Global Flight Systems, which has been discretely developing its own solar-powered aircraft technology, is employing the Eos-Alpha prototype solely as a means to test critical design elements for larger, more capable drones in development. The Eos-Beta, currently under construction, will be the first solar-powered aircraft to sustain continuous flight above sixty thousand feet when it is completed this fall. The Eos-150, its flagship product, will be capable of operating globally with a significant payload and a continuous flight time of up to two years. The Eos series of solar-powered drones is possible due to recent developments in the areas of lightweight structural materials and high-energy battery systems.
Global Flight Systems (https://www.global-flight-systems.com) is a Boston-area startup dedicated to the development of solar-powered high altitude drones that provide unique capabilities unmatched by either existing aircraft or satellites. Such drones will permit rapid global expansion of high-speed wireless data and voice networks as well as persistent, real-time sensing and imaging. Global Flight Systems is now actively seeking investment to accelerate the development of the Eos-Beta high-altitude prototype and the Eos-150 product.
