Stratosphere Airship Program Flight Test Article TX-2 Begins Development at AEROS

Los Angeles, California – May 25, 2005

Aeros has begun the next step of its High Altitude Airship Development Program. The program is aimed at designing, developing, and constructing stratosphere airships capable of remaining at altitudes of 70,000 feet with years of mission endurance.

The objective for the Aeros TX-2 Program is to insure the availability of mature technologies, as well as design and study prototype construction strategies for operations above 60,000 feet.

The future airships are designed to provide a geo-stationary platform capable of remaining on-station for up to five years. Besides the obvious military payloads, civilian applications include high speed Internet services, direct broadcast TV, mobile telecommunication, earth observation and disaster monitoring packages.

The Aeros High Altitude Airship Advanced Technology Demonstrator Program includes 2 stages: the Article TX-1 and Article TX-2. Aeros has successfully completed Article TX-1 – the Launch and Recovery Practicability Demonstrator. Aeros has recently begun the next stage Article TX-2, which includes engineering the main system Integration and operational demonstrator.  

Aeros Senior VP Fred Edworthy stated, “We expect to find ways to minimize the risk for the main airship technology demonstrator prototype program by the time the Article TX-2 is completed for flight testing aimed at proving systems and technology.”

Mr. Edworthy also told us that Aeros has attracted a number of foreign and domestic customers for both civilian and military applications of high altitude airships.

 

About Aeros: AEROS is the world's leading lighter-than-air, FAA-certified aircraft manufacturing company.  The Company's operations involve research, development, and marketing of a wide variety of air vehicles. These include rigid aeroscrafts, commercial non-rigid airships, and advanced tethered aerostatic systems. The airships are available for utilization in a variety of civil and military missions. AEROS has affiliates in eight European and Asian countries, and the company's industry-leading expertise is based on more than 20 years of operations and research in lighter-than-air technologies. For more information about Aeros, please visit its web site at www.aerosml.com

About Stratospheric Airship Program: The stratospheric airship offers a cost effective alternative to low earth orbit satellites. Aeros reports that the main advantages of stratospheric airships over satellites are cost and payload recoverability. The concept is to station unmanned airships at an altitude above 60 thousand feet and remotely maneuver them in a geostationary position. From that altitude, the over the horizon capabilities are enhanced to make it an effective platform for radars and electro optical surveillance. Beyond the military application their ability to carry wireless communication antennas is seen as the most lucrative civil application for the technology.