Albatross

The Albatross program seeks to develop effective autonomous aircraft soaring capabilities as evaluated via real-world flight testing. Traditionally, making an aircraft fly farther and longer requires careful attention to the design of the aircraft to ensure its propulsion system is efficient, its profile has low drag, and it weighs just enough to achieve its mission reliably. Those are all valuable areas of effort that can contribute to achieving extended flight, but Albatross approaches the problem from a new angle and seeks to develop weather forecast-informed mission planning and real-time onboard sensing of dynamic wind conditions across multiple environments to harness .... Read More

The Albatross program seeks to develop effective autonomous aircraft soaring capabilities as evaluated via real-world flight testing. Traditionally, making an aircraft fly farther and longer requires careful attention to the design of the aircraft to ensure its propulsion system is efficient, its profile has low drag, and it weighs just enough to achieve its mission reliably. Those are all valuable areas of effort that can contribute to achieving extended flight, but Albatross approaches the problem from a new angle and seeks to develop weather forecast-informed mission planning and real-time onboard sensing of dynamic wind conditions across multiple environments to harness .... Read More