25 While many HAPS projects have come and gone over the past 20 years, the Airbus Zephyr has not only survived but continued to mature. This large but lightweight solar UAV has changed ownership and design more than once since its conception, but it has nonetheless represented a constant for the UAV industry, setting new boundaries for UAV altitude and endurance. The Zephyr has been developed in Farnborough, UK, for most of its history, with input from military users such as the UK’s MoD, a result partly of the craft’s origins within UK group QinetiQ. QinetiQ’s first Zephyr was the Zephyr 2, named for the aircraft built by the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s first flying club in Farnborough. The version we will look at here is the Zephyr 8 (Z8), once branded the Zephyr-S. The Z8 was first launched in July 2018, before landing 25 days later in the August. That was a Guinness World Record AALTO Zephyr 8 | Dossier ambitions Uncrewed Systems Technology | December/January 2024 Although most closely associated with Airbus, the Zephyr HAPS has been spun off into AALTO, and is being positioned for commercial connectivity and Earth observation services (Images courtesy of AALTO except where otherwise stated)
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