Satellite Soars High

[dropcap size=small]A[/dropcap] team of 15 engineers are working in a remote New Mexico facility to take their knowledge about solar-powered vehicles to the next level – the upper atmosphere. Max Yaney, founder and chief technical officer at Titan Aerospace, established the company in 2012 with a unique vision to change the high altitude, long endurance market for aerial vehicles. His dream is to create a series of unmanned aircraft that function as satellites, but with a broader range of capabilities and at a lower cost. Titan Aerospace is presently designing and constructing the Solara 50, a solar-powered “atmosat” – or atmospheric satellite – that could potentially perform research tasks and serve as a communications platform at the edge of space. The company hopes that the Solara 50, which resembles a large drone, will be commercially available in 2016 or 2017. The Solara 50 is large: It’s 15 meters (49 feet) long and features a wingspan of 50 meters (164 feet). It’s also fast – capable of cruising at 65 mph. The atmosat is projected to cruise at an altitude of 65,000 feet and remain there for up to five years. It could carry 250 pounds of equipment, such as telecommunications platforms, reconnaissance equipment, sensors and other payloads. “The Solara is extremely light and strong and has a simple design with commercial off-the-shelf components, which allows us to operate effectively in this market,” says Ron Olsen, vice president of sales and marketing at Titan Aerospace. The airframe relies heavily on composites – mainly fiberglass, Kevlar and carbon fiber. While the company could not elaborate on proprietary information concerning composite usage, Olsen added that materials were chosen to meet the atmosat’s strength and weight requirements. Production of the Solara 50 is possible thanks to Titan Aerospace’s autoclave installation last March. “With an autoclave, we are able to make parts under pressure using prepreg materials that are lighter and stronger than their wet-layup counterparts,” says Olsen. “This allows us to the push the envelope and achieve strength-to-weight ratios necessary to build an atmosat.” Titan’s engineers previously designed solar-powered cars, and they’ve applied the skills and knowledge from that experience to work on the Solara 50. One of the biggest challenges for the engineers has been getting the most efficiency out of the satellite’s 3,000 solar panels that cover the upper wing surface, elevator and horizontal stabilizer. “We have a patented process for embedding the solar panels instead of pasting them, which will increase the aerodynamic capabilities of the craft,” says Olsen. However, the weak link to the entire operation is the battery. “Just like a car battery, you can only charge it so many times before it will no longer take a charge,” he says. The company believes that the lithium battery will currently get about 1,500 cycles (the number of times a battery can charge and discharge before it fails). It hopes to reach up to 2,000 cycles – enough for a five-year voyage -- by the time the craft is airborne several years from now. Other companies have attempted to build high altitude, long endurance aircraft, but only a few have come close. AeroVironment, for example, developed the Helios prototype for NASA, but an air mishap in 2003 cut that program short. Boeing was making progress on the SolarEagle when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) scaled back its funding in 2012. However, the team at Titan Aerospace strongly believes that with the help of new technologies, advancements in composites and efficient solar cells this is the perfect time for the Solara vehicle to make its debut. Titan Aerospace anticipates the Solara 50 will be used for numerous applications, including disaster response. With search and rescue functionalities, the aircraft could perform tasks that are currently limited to helicopters and manned aerial vehicles at a fraction of the cost, says Olsen. The Solara will be equipped with high-resolution, full-motion video cameras that can assist in locating survivors and monitor cleanup. Other applications may include coastal patrol, border patrol and communications. According to Olsen, the craft can replicate 100 cell towers in a 5,000 square mile radius – an ideal application for emerging countries. In August, Titan Aerospace performed a flight test on a 1/5 scale Solara demonstrator. The demonstrator is still undergoing fatigue tests in the company’s facility. The company also has plans to create its next-generation atmosat – the Solara 60 with a 60-meter wingspan. It’s clear that this two-year-old firm is gaining a lot of attention and journeying into new territory. “We’re really plowing unplowed ground here,” says Olsen.