Perpetual flight is an old dream of humanity that until recently was considered impossible. This solar plane developed in Albacete is close to achieving it.
Fly 24 hours a day, forever. That is only possible with an autonomous solar plane. And it is precisely what the Spanish-American company is building in Castilla-La Mancha Skydweller Aero.
Founded by John Parkes in the United States, Skydweller Aero turned to Albacete in your operations center for one simple reason: It is the region of Europe with more Sun and less humidity.
With the support of the Castilian-La Mancha Board and with numerous Spanish engineers and workers in its ranks, since last April the Skydweller Aero autonomous solar plane already flies over the sunny skies of the AENA airport in Albacete, as you can see in this video:
This autonomous solar plane has the merit of using its own control software, which allows the company to make better use of the plane.
As we see in the video, its long wings are this size to accommodate solar panels that allow you to fly for monthsAlthough the objective is that it can do it forever, something they hope to achieve in two or three years.
And what is a perpetual flight plane for? The applications are endless. From monitoring the appearance of forest fires to mapping or photographs from above, studies of air quality or climate, communications, emergency, surveillance of protected species, and much more.
It is your first flight, last April, managed to reach 4,876 meters in height, and it has already signed a $ 5 million contract with the United States Army.
A few days ago he carried out a financing round, and managed to reach 40 million euros right away.
An airplane that does not consume fuel and that can fly for months is a very interesting tool, and there is a large market waiting to be exploited.
A Hispanic-American project of great importance, which has taken off with great success, seeking a goal not yet reached by anyone: perpetual flight.