http://www.sanswire.com/
I'd go with a semi-rigid instead of a blimp. It would give more flexibility in adapting it for new missions.
When these blimps get into production I'd like to see the first three named:
BS (blimp ship) William Jefferson Clinton
BS Albert Gore
BS Edward Kennedy
What a fitting tribute that would be!
Nifty. I always wondered what happened to the last two or so people who were going to try for another ultra-high altitude sky diving record a few years back.
http://www.sanswire.com/
pibg
ping
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 2005--GlobeTel Communications Corp. (AMEX:GTE) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sanswire Networks LLC, has successfully completed its planned demonstration flight of its military prototype airship. The flight consisted of two military prototypes of varied size, both of which were flown for the benefit of a number of approved senior military and national security officials. The flights took place at the Sanswire facility in Palmdale, California, on Nov. 15, 2005.
The design of the military version airship is of a unique and proprietary nature and has been designed to meet specific requirements of certain military and government needs. These airships complement and share much of the underlying technology of the suite of near-space vehicles currently being developed for commercial applications. The airships flown today have been designated "Sky Dragon."
The first flight took place Tuesday morning on November 15th at 10:30 am PST and the second flight occurred later in the day. The airships performed exactly as expected, with exceptional results. The controlled-access event was attended by 25 VIPs, U.S. Government guests representing, among others, the U.S. Air Force, Department of Homeland Security, NASA, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army, FEMA, and other distinguished invitees.
Sky Dragon was assembled at the Palmdale facility and test flown multiple times prior to the event. The Sanswire team, together with Sanswire's strategic partners, Dr. Bernd Kroeplin and Tao Technologies, in cooperation with University of Stuttgart in Germany, managed and hosted the demonstration.
Bob Jones, President of Sanswire Networks LLC, commented: "We are extremely pleased with the results of this event. The prototype performed flawlessly and our guests were very pleased with the significant progress that has been made since the platforms were initially presented. The visiting dignitaries also expressed great pleasure at the design and products available in the Sanswire High-Altitude Airship Program. The airships that were demonstrated today were designed specifically for specialized military and governmental applications. A number of senior-level decision makers within the government commented that these successful demonstrations represent mature steps in the evolution of Sanswire's overall airship program; and, I could not be more pleased with their enthusiasm. This event marks our commitment in providing performance and capability to our customers as promised."
Timothy Huff, CEO of GlobeTel, added: "We have made significant strides in our airship program and within our business units, in general. I am pleased that GlobeTel and our subsidiaries are performing as expected and I look forward to the continued acceleration of our business growth. The success of the military version of our high-altitude airship is another important milestone in the evolution of our Sanswire program. I am very pleased, but not surprised, by the successful outcome of this event."
Dr. Kroeplin confirmed as well: "It was an honor to present this technology to our distinguished guests. The response to the technology and the flight demonstration was exciting and very well received. We will continue to develop other types of `specialmission' air vehicles - in cooperation with our partner, Sanswire. I believe there is much we can do in the very near term, which can benefit our world."
Sanswire's military version airships can operate within an altitude range of between 5,000 and 70,000 feet AGL, with varying payloads. A Stratellite, by contrast, is similar to a satellite, but is stationed in the stratosphere rather than in orbit, and operates at an altitude of approximately 13 miles. At an altitude of 10 to 13 miles above the Earth, each Stratellite will have clear line-of-sight communications capability to an entire major metropolitan area, as well as being able to provide coverage across major rural areas. Sanswire 2 is currently under construction and is expected to be completed and operational, as planned. Several Stratellites linked together have the ability to cover many hundreds of thousands of square miles. The Stratellite will allow subscribers to easily communicate in "both directions" using readily available wireless devices. In addition to voice and data, other telecommunications uses include cellular, 3G/4G mobile, MMDS, paging, fixed wireless telephony, HDTV, real-time surveillance and others.