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Boeing SolarEagle

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SolarEagle
Role High Altitude, Long Endurance Unmanned aerial vehicleType of aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Boeing
Status Cancelled

The Boeing SolarEagle (Vulture II) was a proposed High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle solar-electric spy plane developed by Boeing Phantom Works.

The proposed aircraft had a wingspan of 393.7 feet (120.0 meters), and was intended to remain airborne for up to five years at a time without needing to land. It had 20 motors of the same type as the Qinetiq Zephyr designed by Newcastle University. Boeing was awarded an $89 million contract by DARPA's Vulture program, with Boeing covering the remainder. It was slated to make its first flight in 2014, but in 2012 the SolarEagle project was cancelled and DARPA's Vulture program was refocused on advancing photovoltaic and energy storage technologies.

References

  1. Haddox, Chris. "SolarEagle (Vulture II) Backgrounder" Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Boeing Phantom Works, September 2010. Retrieved: 18 October 2010.
  2. "Remote robots: Human-free by land, sea and air". New Scientist.
  3. "Boeing Wins DARPA Vulture II Program". MediaRoom (Press release). September 16, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  4. "The pilotless plane that can stay in the air for years". 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  5. "Facebook's UAV Flies, Builds On Developments In Solar Power | Aviation Week Network". aviationweek.com.
  6. "Vulture". darpa.mil.
  7. "Solar Drones Are Filling the Skies, But There's Still No Clear Winner". popularmechanics.com. 9 May 2019.


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