COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM USING HIGH ALTITUDE, LONG ENDURANCE AIRCRAFT AS RELAYS

摘要

This disclosure provides a solar rechargeable aircraft (10) that is inexpensive to produce, is steerable, and can remain airborne almost indefinitely. The preferred aircraft is a span-loaded flying wing, having no fuselage or rudder. The aircraft has a wide variety of applications as communications relay, which include serving as a long term high altitude platform that serves to link a ground station (510) using radio wave signals and a satellite using (512) optical signals.