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Thales and Finmeccanica have teamed up to develop this machine capable of flying at 20 km altitude. It could be launched in 2020.

Really an airship, not a satellite and definitely not a drone. The project Stratobus Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between the French Thales and Italian Finmeccanica , is a challenge to all classifications. The concept, however, is quite simple: it sets airship 70-100 meters long and 20-30 meters in diameter, is thought to evolve about 20 km altitude, and conduct missions telecommunications, observation, weather, marine or industrial with its payload of 200 kg surveillance.

"The technical challenge is to keep it in position while the wind at this altitude reaches 90 km / h, says Jean-Philippe Chessel, Project Manager at Thales Alenia Space. Propulsion, which consists of an electric motor, s' adapt to the wind. "

"Stratobus is complementary to satellite"

Why Thales Alenia Space, a world leader in satellite, was it launched this project? The group ensures not fear cannibalization of its historic features. "Stratobus is complementary to the satellite, says Jean-Philippe Chessel. It allows cover 200km, when a satellite covers a continent. It also has the advantage of being able to disseminate information in real time on an area, while satellites LEO revolve around the earth and fly over the area intermittently. "

In fact, the two devices have nothing to do. At 20,000 feet above sea level, the airship above the air traffic, but well below the low-orbit satellites (300 km to 2,000 km) and further satellites in geostationary orbit (36,000 km). The ball goes up on its own to its final altitude without needing caster. When he takes € 250 million to launch a satellite between the construction, launch, insurance and segment-neck, Thales Alenia Space provides the investment to send an airship has "tens of millions of euros ". A substantial advantage even if the life of the machine is still shorter than that of the satellites (5 against 15 years).

Stratobus is also very different from drones, which involve a télépilotage by an operator, a takeoff and landing, and the permanence of area requires multiple copies. The airship can however be assigned to military missions, such as telecommunications, illumination of targets or monitoring theaters, to a much lesser that the drone or satellite cost. In case of severe storm, the ball will obviously come down to a calmer altitude and up when weather conditions are more favorable.

A design that lasted 2 ½ years

Thales Alenia Space and its partners Airbus Defence & Space, Zodiac Marine, CEA-Liten but CNES, ONERA or Air Liquide has completed the design study, which lasted two and a half years. Thales Alenia Space believes that the development of the platform will take about 5 years, which would launch the first machine series in 2020-2022 horizon. Technical barriers remain consistent: we must develop particular tissue envelope of the airship, carbon fiber.

The partners are also working to limit the size of photovoltaic panels to limit the weight of the machine five tons: Thales has filed a patent on a technology to amplify the sunlight, the reflection in the balloon, and the focus for the equivalent of three suns. "This is a technology course that we are the only ones to have crossed yet," says Jean-Philippe Chessel.

Industrial ensures that the business model is robust. The development of the machine requires between 300 and 500 million euros. The production line is adapted for assembling a platform month. "The market is hundreds of machines," said Jean-Philippe Chessel, which calculates the return on investment could be only two years.

The project reminds Loon Google program, developed by the secret laboratory Google X, which aims to offer internet access in the most remote areas of the planet with balloons 15 meters in diameter. But Thales emphasizes that these items are not fixed as Stratobus, and they are far from displaying the same autonomy. After Star Wars, war balloons?