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AeroVironment Flies Liquid Hydrogen-Powered UAV

August 01, 2005 by Jeff Shepard

AeroVironment Inc. (Monrovia, CA), a developer of fuel cell systems, renewable energy technology, unmanned aerial vehicles and electric vehicle systems, reported that it has successfully completed the world’s first liquid hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight tests. According to the company, the new platform will be able to operate at 65,000 ft for over a week with a carrying capacity of up to 1,000 lbs. Government and commercial applications could include global, near-space, flying capability for defense and homeland security missions; low-cost, rapidly deployable, telecommunications infrastructure and GPS augmentation; hurricane/storm tracking, weather monitoring, and wildfire detection/support; and environmental monitoring, agriculture optimization, and aerial imaging/mapping capabilities.

In addition to validating the functionality of the airplane and the propulsion system, the flight tests demonstrated safe and efficient hydrogen-powered flight and mobile liquid hydrogen fueling operations. The prototype accomplished a successful maiden liquid hydrogen-powered flight on May 26 at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. It was flown again on June 2, demonstrating repeatable and reliable performance. The unmanned, 50 ft wingspan aircraft operated entirely on liquid hydrogen fuel for over one hour on each flight, and was flown under both manual control and autonomous waypoint navigation.