Ordnance Survey has created a solar-powered mapping drone that can soar to 67,000ft, fly for 90 days solidly reach areas conventional aerial image capture struggle to view effectively.
Weighing in at 149kg and with a 38m wingspan, the High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAP) - which is more of a platform than a single entity - has been given the moniker Astigan. It has the ability to reach twice the cruising height of a commercial airliner and will complement current satellite services.
"The UK has a particularly successful track record in mapping and associated technology. This exciting new unmanned aircraft project is a brilliant example of the innovative thinking behind our modern Industrial Strategy and should lead to global business opportunities," said Business Minister Lord Henley.
"As well as having the potential to support key government objectives such as upgrading the UK's infrastructure, it could benefit emerging technological areas such as smart cities and self-driving vehicles which both rely on accurate 3D mapping," Business Minister Lord Henley said.
Astigan has been in existence since 2014, with input from a wide variety of industry experts. Since its creation, it's successfully completed eight full-scale flights and it is hoped endurance testing will be completed by the end of this year so that once it is production-ready it will be capable of revolutionising the accuracy and cost of mapping. In some cases, it is believed the speed at which it can do this will be near real-time.
"It's incredibly exciting that the UK has developed this kind of technology, delivering satellite capabilities, unparalleled flexibility and improved efficiency, all at a vastly reduced cost," said Brian Jones, Astigan's managing director.
"We look forward to completing this project and seeing the aircraft deliver on its outstanding potential, which should provide a range of scientific and environmental benefits."
The data and images it collects will be made available for businesses and organisations to use. However, the industrial nature of the project makes it unlikely that the images will appear on services such as Google Maps.
In addition to mapping, Astigan could also be used to support land management and urbanisation challenges and provide early warnings for natural disasters. While Ordnance Survey is a British company, it plans to use the platform in other countries as well.
"Astigan supports Ordnance Survey in enhancing its capabilities to work in partnership with other nations across the globe," said Neil Ackroyd, a co-founding director of Astigan and Acting CEO of Ordnance Survey.
"By aligning this capability with our world-class geospatial production and mapping expertise, we hope to support organisations and countries in tackling major societal challenges including urbanisation, land management, environmental change and mapping to support emergency response in the case of natural disasters."
