Aurora wins Solar Eagle contract

Aurora Flight Sciences has announced that it has been awarded a contract to design and fabricate structural components for the Boeing SolarEagle unmanned aircraft vehicle.

Awarded by Boeing, the contract will see Aurora work on the ribs and skins for the 400 foot long wing and the solar collection panels.

SolarEagle is being developed by Boeing for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Vulture programme. The system is being designed to fly at altitudes above 60,000 feet for 30 days for ISR and communication applications. The aircraft will harvest solar energy during the day that will be stored in fuel cells and used to provide power through the night.

According to the company, the contract also includes components for both a subscale test article and a flight demonstrator.


Source: By the Shephard News Team, 10 January 2012- Shephard Group / UV News (www.shephardmedia.com)

Photo: The Boeing Solar Eagle (Photo by shephardmedia)

(10.01.2012)