French company combines satellites and drones for a super-spy hybrid

Chances are you’re familiar with satellites and you’re familiar with drones. But what do you get when you combine the two?

StratoBus concept will come to life in just a few years.

StratoBus, a project conceptualized by French company Thales Alenia Space, crosses a satellite and a drone to get a football-field-sized, hybrid blimp-shaped vehicle that will spy on you from the sky.

The vehicle will be made of carbon fiber, making it super-lightweight, but still able to carry payloads up to approximately 440 lbs. It will operate at about 12 miles into the stratosphere, still low to earth, but well above air traffic and jet streams.

It might remind you a bit of Google’s Project Loon (started in June 2013) in which a balloon twice the size of an airplane floats in the stratosphere to provide internet access via balloon network to those on Earth who don’t have any.

The difference between Google’s balloon and Thales Group’s hybrid is that the StratoBus offers longer endurance and complete autonomy from a fixed position while Google’s Loon has only limited movement around Earth.

So why would we want a drone-satellite hybrid vehicle circling the skies?

The StratoBus will remain in permenant contact with a ground station and will be able to carry out a wide range of missions that include observations, security, telecommunications, broadcasting, and navigation. It has potential applications in border and naval surveillance, boosting mobile network capacity for public events, and GPS expansion over areas of dense traffic.

Innovations on the StratoBus

The airship will feature some technological innovations that include a power generation system that uses the solar panels in a solar power amplification system capturing the sun’s rays in all seasons and an ultra-light reversible fuel cell for energy storage.

Components of the StratoBus.

In order to offset the wind, the vehicle will require continuous energy input so it will come equipped with two electric motors that will automatically adjust their power depending on wind speed.

Watch the video below for an inside look at the StratoBus and potential applications.

According to Thales Alenia Space, the first prototype should be rolled out within five years.

Story and images via Thales Group.