Lighter Than Air from Over There
RT-LTA—the Israeli company that designs and manufactures the SkyStar family of aerostats—has introduced a new capability by which its SkyStar330 aerostat systems may be remotely controlled.
Aerostats (from the Greek ??ρ aer [air] + στατ?ς statos [static]) are lighter than air aircraft borne aloft via containment of a buoyant gas. Aerostats include unpowered balloons and powered airships. Contrariwise, aerodynes (from the Greek ??ρ aer [air] + dynamikos [powerful]) use aerodynamic lift, which requires the movement of a wing surface through the surrounding air mass.
RT-LTA’s SkyStar aerostats are self-contained, transportable tactical systems designed for defense, border security, HLS and public safety missions. Worldwide, the systems have accumulated over four-million operational hours.
The new, remote-control capability allows SkyStar330 operators to be displaced a considerable distance from the deployed aerostat—thereby advancing the company’s objective of better protecting users of its product.
RT CEO Rami Shmueli states, “This feature will allow the users to fly the system even if the control room is on the other side of the world. This new capability is the first step towards a fully-autonomous system that is already in the development process and will be available to clients in the near future.” Shmueli adds, “We are happy to expose our new development to the SkyStar330 system, this system which is carrying up to 50kg payload is used by our most advanced clients, and most of them deploy the systems in places where you need max protection to operational teams.”
Skystar 330 is a real-time tactical surveillance aerostat system comprising a helium-filled Aerostat tethered to a ground, inflation & mooring station. The system provides prolonged, wide-area surveillance coverage from an altitude of up to 1,500 ft AGL, and transmits surveillance video and data to a ground control station.
Excepting a twenty-minute break every 72 hours (to enable helium refill), the aerostat can be operated continuously at wind velocities of up to 40 knots. The rapidly deployable system is easily transported by general-purpose trucks.
The Skystar 330 cable-tether features a wired data-link system for receiving payload orientation uplink commands and transmitting downlink video images and data. The tether also carries the aerostat’s power supply, as well as an un-jammable, two-way communications channel.
The RF component that enables the aerostat to be remotely controlled may be paired with additional, RF communication arrays.
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