The Korean government will invest $31.5 million through 2025 to develop a state-of-the-art UAV that can fly at stratospheric altitudes without landing for more than a month.
The Ministry of Science and Technology will coordinate the work of industry, academia and research centers to develop and obtain the key technologies needed to crystallize the stratospheric UAV project.
Flying high
Most airliners fly at an altitude of 12 kms or less (within the Troposphere). The stratosphere refers to one of the layers of the atmosphere located at altitudes between 12 and 50 km. Within the stratosphere, there is little change in the weather conditions and air resistance becomes more tenuous, so a flying object can remain aloft for a long time at that altitude.
For this reason, countries around the world are actively developing stratospheric UAVs for the purpose of ground monitoring or re-transmitting communications. Stratospheric UAVs can function as a sort of pseudo-satellites, flying at a much higher altitude than ordinary aircraft, being much cheaper to place in position than a satellite, and without the added problem of generating space debris.
The advantages of this type of UAV are obvious, especially considering that more and more nations are acquiring the technology necessary to create anti-satellite weapons.
The best in the world
The stratospheric UAV, which the Korean government decided to develop, aims to have the highest performance in the world. It is expected to be able to carry a 20 kg payload of monitoring and communication equipment and fly it continuously through the stratosphere for more than a month.
Currently, the world’s longest flight record is held by the Zephyr stratospheric UAV, developed by Airbus in Europe. Carrying 5 kg of equipment, Zephyr flew for 26 consecutive days, and South Korea’s plan is to break that record by a wide margin.
What does a stratospheric UAV look like?
Most stratospheric UAVs developed so far are powered by electric motors, and these (and the onboard equipment) are powered by solar panels installed on the wings. By using solar energy, it is possible to avoid the increase in weight of the drone that occurs when carrying fossil fuels, in addition to the fact that at that altitude the sun’s rays reach with more force than they reach the ground. For these reasons, these type of drones are of extremely light construction.
Other core technologies to be developed are high-performance batteries and advanced composite materials to achieve the desired performance and loads specs for this project.
