Stratellite
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2007) |
Stratellite is a brand name (Stratellite is a trademark of Sanswire Network, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of GlobeTel Communications Corp.) for a future emissions-free, high-altitude stratospheric airship that provides a stationary communications platform for various types of wireless signals usually carried by communications towers or satellites. The Stratellite is a concept that has undergone several years of research and development, and is not yet commercially available; Sanswire, with its partner TAO Technologies, anticipates its current testing sequence to include the launch of a Stratellite into the stratosphere.
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[edit] Details
High-altitude airships, like the Stratellite, would hover lower than an orbiting satellite, but far above the jet stream and most weather, in the stratosphere approximately 13 mi (20 km) above the Earth. A single unit could then send broadband, mobile phone and digital television and radio signals to a large area.
In comparison, lag times would be reduced by a factor of nearly 2000 for geostationary satellites, and 15 for low orbiting satellites but with a smaller coverage area. When compared to terrestrial communications towers, Stratellite coverage would be larger, with lag times being more a function of internal communications equipment rather than distance.[citation needed]
Estimated broadband coverage of 300,000 mi² (777,000 km²), roughly the size of Texas or France, is planned. Wireless signals could be transmitted to and from a 200 mi (320 km) diameter, but terrain features and man-made structures could partially or locally interfere with the signal.[citation needed][dubious ]
Since the Stratellite is designed for regular returns to the surface for maintenance (see below), some overlap and redundancy would be required to maintain continuous service. Sanswire Networks initially plans to deploy this technology over major metropolitan areas.[citation needed]
Proponents claim a high-altitude communications platform, like the Stratellite, could make terrestrial broadcast towers obsolete, reducing the cost and time required for hardware updates. An update made to a single unit would effectively cascade to an entire grid of virtual broadcast towers. It will be possible to bring broadband service to a wide area currently without terrestrial towers quickly and with relative ease.[citation needed]
The unmanned Stratellite would be powered by solar cells and propelled by electric motors. When complete, it will resemble a 245 ft (75 m) blue whale, only twice as long and roughly eight times the volume.[citation needed]
Certain engineers that had originally claimed ownership of the concept currently doubt Sanswire's ability to maintain duration aloft as stated, due to their positions having been terminated by Sanswire. One such engineer designed the airship depicted in the photo, built at the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. It was never flown. The vehicle was eventually scrapped in total and the project relocated to Palmdale Airport in the California Antelope Valley. A third variant of the design was also built, but was never flown either. According to corporate press releases, the Stratellite and related assets were shipped to TAO Technologies in Stuttgart, Germany for further evaluation and design revision. Sanswire then formed a new German corporation known as Sanswire-TAO GmbH.
[edit] Specifications
General characteristics
- Length: 245 ft in (75 m)
- Width: 145 ft in (44 m)
- Height: 87 ft in (26.5 m)
- Volume: 1.3 million ft³ (37,000 m³)
Performance
- Service ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)
- Dual envelopes, made of Dyneema (sometimes called Spectra)
- Navigation: 6 onboard GPS units connected to the ship's engines
- Payload capacity: 3,000 lb (1,400 kg)
- Cruising altitude: 65,000 ft (20,000 m)
- Lifting gas: Helium and Nitrogen
- Line-of-sight: 300,000 mile² (777,000 km²)
- Maximum duration aloft: 18 months
[edit] Company details
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (September 2007) |
This section deals with the parent company which is not directly related to the definition of Stratellite.
The word Stratellite is a trademark of Sanswire Network, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of GlobeTel Communications Corp. The company held a summit in January 2005 to discuss commercial, international and military opportunities. On April 12, 2005, Sanswire 1 was shown to the public. The company announced on October 19, 2006 that its Sanswire 2A technology demonstrator completed its first outdoor, low altitude, float test. No further aerial tests took place that year, and in 2007, the technology demonstrator was disassembled and shipped to its development partner in Stuttgart, Germany.
On October 12, 2006 Timothy Huff stepped down from his position of CEO and also resigned from the Board of Directors.[citation needed][1] J. Randolph Dumas stepped down as Chairman of the Board. Independent directors Dorian Klein and Ambassador Ferdinando Salleo also agreed resigned.[2] Przemyslaw L. Kostro, former Chairman of GlobeTel Communications, returned to that position, and then named Peter Khoury interim Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Timothy Huff who stayed on until October 12, 2006 in a technical capacity.[3] On November 2, 2006, the Company filed a Form 8-K announcing the termination of Lawrence Lynch as Chief Financial Officer.[4]
Sanswire is not the first company to propose such a craft. Similar proposals have been made by Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) in Bedford, England, SkyLINK, Inc, in England, and SkyTower Inc., a subsidiary of AeroVironment Inc. in Monrovia, California, in the United States.
