Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 11:41 GMT 12:41 UK
'Eternal planes' to watch over us
By Jo Twist
BBC News science and technology reporter

Unmanned surveillance vehicles are increasingly evident in a world that
relies on knowing what people and places are doing.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) patrol innocuous-looking skies and silently
report back streams of strategically important data, video, and images from
locations around the world.

They are the ultimate Earth watchers.

It is believed that up to 800 remotely piloted aircraft are in operation in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

[...]

Eternal flight

Called high-altitude long-endurance (Hale) craft, they can be crucial
information-gatherers for disaster management, crop management, coastal
management, and mapping; they can be more flexible and cheaper options than
low-orbit satellites, particularly for developing nations.

But one of the biggest issues for such craft is finding the power to fly
continuously at altitudes of 18 to 20km, for the very long periods of time
often required for such missions.

Once this barrier is overcome, they can rightfully be called "eternal
planes". It is hoped that a new Hale UAV vehicle, built by former UK
defence research lab QinetiQ, will push the boundaries for eternal planes a
bit further.

It is called Mercator. It has a wingspan of 16m and a light weight of 27kg.
Together with its hi-tech ground station, it makes up the equally
grand-sounding project known as Pegasus.

[...]


European efforts

In 2000, the Belgian Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vito) set
up the Pegasus project.

Pegasus (Policy support for European Governments by Acquisition of
information from Satellite and UAV-borne Sensors) was designed to spearhead
Europe's development of solar-powered UAVs that can stay airborne for long
periods.