Airbus Zephyr

Background

The Zephyr program began with QinetiQ, which in 2003 planned to fly the Zephyr 3 to 40 km after release from a high-altitude balloon, as an alternative to space satellites. The Zephyr 6 first flew in 2006 and set an unofficial endurance record of 82 hours 37 minutes in 2008. The Zephyr 7 achieved a FAI-sanctioned duration record in July 2010 with a 14-day flight, and in March 2013 the project was sold to EADS Astrium (now Airbus Defence and Space).

The Zephyr 8/S variant, with a 25 m wingspan and weight of 60 kg, flew for 25 days 23 hours 57 minutes in summer 2018, nearly doubling the previous record. In June 2022, a Zephyr S took off from Arizona and flew for 64 days, covering 56,000 km over the southern United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and South America, before being lost due to an engine component failure in high-altitude storm turbulence. The aircraft uses Amprius lithium-ion batteries with silicon nanowire anodes and high-efficiency GaAs solar cells from MicroLink Devices.

Did You Know?

• The Zephyr 7's 14-day flight in 2010 exceeded the nine-day duration of the 1986 round-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.
• The Zephyr 8/S uses Amprius lithium-ion batteries with silicon nanowire anodes achieving 435 Wh/kg specific energy.