Prototype of Unmanned Airship Is Unveiled

LOS ANGELES - A communications company unveiled a prototype of an unmanned airship that would function as a relay platform while floating in the stratosphere some 65,000 feet above service areas.

The lighter-than-air "stratellite" has been under construction by the GlobeTel Communications Corp. subsidiary Sanswire Networks LLC at an airport in San Bernardino County.

The company hopes to begin flight testing of its Sanswire One later this year over the California desert and is in discussions with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.

The prototype is 188 feet long, 42 feet high and 60 feet wide — about a third the size of the operational airships being planned, said Leigh Coleman, president of Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based GlobeTel.

By comparison, the Carson, Calif.-based Goodyear blimp Spirit of America is 192 feet long, 50 feet wide and 59 1/2 feet high.

Sanswire One, however, resembles a shark or whale, with a broad tapered nose rather than the cylindrical shape of a traditional blimp. It also has a rigid structure, like the Zeppelins of the early 20th century, but is very lightweight.

"It's a rebirth of an era in our minds," Coleman said. "... We see it as a link to the past."

The developers hope to fly it to an altitude of 45,000 feet in July, but first must deal with regulatory and flight safety issues, Coleman said.

"The actual airship is functional but it does need approvals, it needs certification," he said.

The developers planned to show off the airship during a press conference Tuesday.

GlobeTel foresees a fleet of helium-filled "stratellites," each able to stay aloft for months at a time and automatically held on station by electric motors powered by batteries charged by solar cells.

They would relay communications services including voice, broadband, high-definition TV, interactive high-definition TV and satellite radio at a cost far lower than traditional satellites in orbit, the company contends, and could also have military and government uses for surveillance and remote sensing.

"When we prove what we can do the military will use this immediately," Coleman said.

By positioning "stratellites" at an altitude more than a dozen miles high, the developers hope to minimize the effects of winds. There are still winds at 65,000 feet but the lower density of the atmosphere, combined with the shape of the "stratellite," should allow the motors to hold it in position, the developers believe.

"I would call that being in calm waters," he said.

Coleman would not release the development costs but offered a general comparison with satellite technology.

"It's hugely and significantly lower cost than a satellite — we're a satellite replacement technology — and you could talk in the order of this being $20 (million), $30 million as opposed to $250 million," he said. "Operationally, costs are very low compared to a satellite that might be $30 (million) or $40 million a year."

Russia, France Sign Launch Pad Agreement

MOSCOW - Russian and French space officials signed a $448 million deal Monday to build a new South American launch pad for sending Russian rockets into space.

The deal includes terms for cooperation in planned launches of Russian Soyuz rockets from France's Kourou launch pad in French Guyana, on the northeastern tip of South America, starting in 2008.

Russia has pushed for access to Kourou because its proximity to the equator would allow Russian rockets to carry heavier cargoes to higher orbits. Russia currently launches manned rockets from a launch pad in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan.

The equator is the line at which the Earth moves the fastest, helping propel rockets into space while using less fuel, which allows them to carry heavier payloads.

Arianespace said it had already signed its first contracts for Soyuz launches with government and commercial customers.

Russia's cash-strapped space program has worked closely with the European Space Agency in recent years, launching ESA satellites and carrying ESA astronauts on research missions to the International Space Station.