Stratellite
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Stratellite is a brand name (Stratellite) is a trademark of Sanswire 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. So far, this technology remains unproven, and is very far from commercialization. A working proto-type that can perform all these functions doesn't exist.
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.
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.[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.
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.
The unmanned Stratellite would be powered by solar cells and propelled by electric motors.
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] Company details
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.
[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
