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AeroVironment Successfully Completes Sunglider Solar HAPS Stratospheric Test Flight, Surpassing 60,000 Feet Altitude and Demonstrating Broadband Mobile Connectivity
Sunglider reaches stratospheric altitude in 20-hour test flight Successfully demonstrates broadband mobile communication on consumer smartphones, linking
About this update from Aerovironment, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nSunglider reaches stratospheric altitude in 20-hour test flight\n\n\nSuccessfully demonstrates broadband mobile communication on consumer smartphones, linking teams in Tokyo, New Mexico and Silicon Valley\n\n\n SIMI VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nAeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), today announced the Sunglider™ solar-powered high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) achieved key test milestones, including reaching an altitude of more than 60,000 feet above sea level and successfully demonstrating mobile broadband communication. Sunglider’s development and testing is funded by HAPSMobile Inc., a joint venture majority-owned by SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and minority-owned by AeroVironment.\nThis press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201007006052/en/The HAPSMobile Inc. Sunglider™ solar-powered HAPS successfully completed its first stratospheric flight and demonstrated broadband mobile communication on September 22, 2020 (Photo: Business Wire)\nDuring the test flight, which began at 5:16 a.m. MDT on September 21 and concluded at 1:32 a.m. MDT on September 22, the AeroVironment team piloted Sunglider to a stratospheric altitude of 62,500 feet above Spaceport America in New Mexico. Sunglider successfully achieved major test objectives relating to propulsion, power systems, flight control, navigation and datalink integrity, as well as structural performance during the most turbulent phases of the flight as it entered and exited the jet stream.\n\nThe broadband communication demonstration successfully linked teams in Tokyo, Spaceport America and Silicon Valley using an LTE payload jointly developed by Alphabet’s Loon LLC and HAPSMobile. Employing standard LTE smartphones, a team at Spaceport America conducted multiple video calls via the Sunglider’s payload while the aircraft circled for more than five hours in the stratosphere.\n\n“In less than three years AeroVironment and HAPSMobile have made incredible progress, developing two Sunglider solar HAPS unmanned aircraft and performing five consecutive flight demonstrations, culminating in this latest significant milestone,” said Wahid Nawabi, president and chief executive officer of AeroVironment. “Reaching stratospheric altitude, maintaining continuous flight for...