DARPA Concept a Solar Plane That Would Fly Non-Stop For Five Years

What would you think if we told you that DARPA is considering a plane that would fly non-stop for 5 years without burning a single drop of fuel? They are, and it's called the Vulture program, which aims to produce an aircraft able to carry a 1,000 pound payload, pump out 5kW of onboard power, and keep up enough speed to withstand the winds it'll encounter at 60,000 to 90,000 feet.

Needless to say, that's a long ways from becoming a reality, although it seems that the first phase of the project could soon be kicking off, with Vulture program manager Daniel Newman saying that they've had "at least one successful offeror," and that they're now close to doling out the first contracts. That initial phase will run for twelve months, and will require contractors to "define the objective system and design both full-scale and subscale demonstrators." That'll then be followed by phase two, which'll run through 2012 with the goal of testing of a subscale demonstrator capable of flying for three months.

There are currently three options under consideration. The first one is nuclear and - wait, this is not under consideration. The second one is to refuel the aircraft in flight. This favors fuel cells because they are more efficient and reliable than internal-combustion and gas-turbine engines. The other option is solar energy, either solar thermal, which is unproven, or solar electric, which is a proven technology.