Chinese solar-powered drone Morning Star spreads its wings in successful test flight
- Development of new materials gives aircraft wing a weight of less than 20kg
- Morning Star could be sold into military and civilian markets
China has successfully test-flown the Morning Star, a solar-powered drone designed to remain in the air for months.
Developer Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) announced that the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which has a 20-metre (66-foot) wingspan, attained and cruised at an altitude of more than 20,000 metres (66,000 feet).
“With the development and first flight, in addition to a great number of ground, wind tunnel and scale model tests … a solid foundation has been laid for follow-up development,” AVIC said. “We will move quickly towards large-scale, heavy load and long endurance solar-powered UAVs.”
The main wing structure had an “impossibly superlight” weight of 18.9kg (42lbs), it said, thanks to a new material development.
AVIC did not reveal details of the test, but said it followed an endurance flight of a 10-metre wingspan prototype Morning Star in September. In that test, the aircraft flew autonomously for about five hours.