Airbus' Solar-Powered Zephyr S Has Been Flying Non-Stop For More Than 17 Days

Airbus is conducting a very-high-altitude flight of its uncrewed Zephyr S solar-powered aircraft, a report from The Drive reveals. It is more than 17 days into the flight. Interesting Engineering reports: The Zephyr S aircraft, which has also been described as a drone and a pseudo-satellite, took off from the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona in June. It was built to stay airborne for long stretches, allowing it to serve as a sensor platform for the military. The Zephyr S was spotted on online flight tracking software after it took off from an airstrip at Yuma Proving Ground on June 15. The aircraft has since flown several patterns over the Yuma Test Range and Kofa National Wildfire Refuge. Airbus has been running Zephyr S test flights over this area for some time, but according to the flight tracking data, the drone also started conducting runs to the southeast near Arizona's border and the southwest toward the Gulf of Mexico. On June 27, Zephyr S flew over the Gulf of Mexico before flying over the Caribbean Sea and then onto the airspace over the Central American country of Belize. Last week, the aircraft turned back towards the U.S. When the Zephyr S first flew in 2018, it remained in the skies for almost 26 days. Whether the latest flight will go on even longer than that world-record milestone is yet to be confirmed.

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