Early-stage aerospace innovator Stratoship has exceeded engineering expectations during recent field testing of its remotely piloted high-altitude airship, designed to reduce Australia’s critical dependence on foreign satellites for observation capabilities and communications.
The test was launched on Monday, 5 May out of Corfield Racecourse in central west Queensland, roughly 85 kilometres north of Winton.
Launched at 7:55am, the airship reached the stratosphere around 9:00am, maintained stratospheric altitude until approximately 5:45pm, and landed at 7:08pm, demonstrating the platform’s potential for extended high-altitude operations.
The achievement comes at a critical time as Australia grapples with significant national security and operational risks due to its reliance on foreign satellite infrastructure.
Developed by Stratoship with the support of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub’s Defence Technology Accelerator, the platform has a wide range of applications.
Stratoship’s technology operates at altitudes of 20 kilometres — twice the crusing altitude of commercial airliners — and is designed to provide organisations with real-time, high-resolution data and continuous communications capabilities for targeted areas, particularly during natural disasters such as bushfires.
Stratoship says its platform can remain fixed over designated areas, delivering persistent monitoring and communications. The airship is payload agnostic, accommodating various sensors and communications equipment based on specific mission requirements.
“While we’re still in early engineering development, our recent flight success validates our core design principles,” said Daniel Field, Managing Director and Engineering Lead at Stratoship.
“We’re particularly focused on ensuring gas-tight manufacturing to minimise helium escape, which is crucial for extending stratospheric endurance toward our multi-day operational goals.”
ARM Hub is helping Stratoship in participating in the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Program to streamline its production process, which would accelerate development while ensuring consistent quality as the design moves toward aviation certification.
“ARM Hub has contributed to Stratoship not just with the network that it offers; but also helping us with a lot of the research engineering and decision-making along the way,” said Stratoship Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Williams.
“If we hadn’t been at ARM Hub for the past 12 months, we wouldn’t be in the same situation we are in today.”
