Stratospheric Airship Platform

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out maiden flight-trials of its Stratospheric Airship Platform from Sheopur Trial site at Madhya Pradesh on May 3.

• Developed by Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment at Agra in Uttar Pradesh, the airship was launched carrying an instrumental payload to an altitude of around 17 kilometers.

• The data from onboard sensors was received and will be utilised for development of high-quality fidelity simulation models for future high-altitude airship flights.

• DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat said the prototype flight is a “milestone” towards realisation of lighter-than-air high-altitude platform systems that can remain airborne for very long endurance at stratospheric heights.