From drone-like scale to a swarm-deploying mothership: one modular approach to persistent, AI-enabled Earth observation.
01 / PLATFORM FAMILYDrone-scale lighter-than-air sensing for precise, local observation with a small operational footprint.
02 / PLATFORM FAMILYA modular aerial vantage point for regional mapping, infrastructure monitoring, and mission-specific sensing.
03 / PLATFORM FAMILYA large-scale pseudo-satellite combining wide-area sensing with deployable drone swarms.
Typical missions for each tier: the platform on station, its drone swarm deployed, and the ground assets that launch, charge and relay.
Compact tethered aerostat on a winch trailer, powered and linked through the tether from a mobile CCTV command vehicle, directing two dock-launched scout quadcopters along the fence line.
Each reel shows a mission-specific build of the same platform class: propulsor count and layout, payload pods, solar-film coverage and hull finish are selected per mission in the configurator.
All platform tiers, daughter UAV swarms, ground and maritime assets operating together, with an optional satellite layer: orbital reach-back, SATCOM backhaul, mesh relay and tether fibre carrying one shared picture to the command vehicle.
Set an operating altitude and payload mass. The console applies the standard-atmosphere buoyancy relation and returns a payload-only lift-volume starting point and geometric horizons; full-system sizing follows in the mission dashboard.
First-order ISA buoyancy model: net helium lift ≈ 0.862 × local air density per cubic metre, plus a 25% envelope and ballonet allowance. Horizon distances use the standard optical (3.57√h) and 4/3-Earth radar (4.12√h) approximations. Final sizing is confirmed through mission engineering.
Lighter-than-air platforms obey a simple, unforgiving equation: lift comes from displaced air. Envelope volume, payload, and altitude are therefore locked together — and understanding that relationship is where every mission begins.
F_net = [V · (ρ_air − ρ_gas) − m_system] · gNet buoyant lift = displaced air mass − lifting gas mass − structure. Volume, not area, is the currency of lighter-than-air flight.
Archimedes’ principle: net lift equals the weight of displaced air minus the lifting gas and structure. At sea level (ISA, 15 °C), helium provides ≈ 1.06 kg of net lift per cubic metre; hydrogen ≈ 1.14 kg/m³.
Air density falls exponentially with altitude. At 5 km it is ≈ 60% of sea level; at 20 km only ≈ 7%. An envelope lifting 100 kg at sea level lifts roughly 7 kg at 20 km — stratospheric operation demands very large volume per kilogram of payload.
Day–night thermal cycles change gas temperature and lift. Air ballonets or superpressure envelopes manage volume and pressure, at the cost of additional mass and blower power.
A tethered platform trades altitude for persistence: power and data travel up the tether, reducing onboard energy-storage demand. Availability depends on ground supply, tether loads, weather limits, gas servicing and maintenance.
First-order engineering relationships between platform class, envelope volume, payload capacity, and operating altitude under standard atmospheric conditions.
| Platform class | Envelope | Volume | Payload | Operating altitude | Endurance | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro platform | Sized from validated hull geometry | 10–60 m³ | 1–8 kg | 50–300 m AGL | Configuration-specific | Compact sensors; crew and ground-handling needs set per site |
| Mission platform | Sized from validated hull geometry | 400–4 000 m³ | 20–150 kg | 300–3 000 m AGL | Configuration-specific | LiDAR + multispectral + stabilised EO/IR; regional persistence |
| Mothership platform | High-altitude development study | 30 000–250 000 m³ | 150–1 000+ kg | 15–25 km (stratosphere) | Requires flight validation | Mass, propulsion and envelope validation required; airborne drone deployment not qualified |
| Altitude | Air density | % sea level | Envelope / 100 kg | Optical horizon | Platform class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 1.213 kg/m³ | 99% | 120 m³ | 36 km | Micro |
| 300 m | 1.190 kg/m³ | 97% | 122 m³ | 62 km | Micro |
| 1,000 m | 1.112 kg/m³ | 91% | 130 m³ | 113 km | Mission |
| 3,000 m | 0.909 kg/m³ | 74% | 160 m³ | 196 km | Mission |
| 5,000 m | 0.736 kg/m³ | 60% | 197 m³ | 252 km | Mission (high-altitude variant) / transit |
| 8,000 m | 0.525 kg/m³ | 43% | 276 m³ | 319 km | Mission (high-altitude variant) / transit |
| 12,000 m | 0.311 kg/m³ | 25% | 467 m³ | 391 km | Mission (high-altitude variant) / transit |
| 15,000 m | 0.194 kg/m³ | 16% | 749 m³ | 437 km | Mothership |
| 20,000 m | 0.088 kg/m³ | 7% | 1,647 m³ | 505 km | Mothership |
| 25,000 m | 0.039 kg/m³ | 3% | 3,676 m³ | 564 km | Mothership |
Four ways to hold a position in the sky. Each architecture trades endurance, mobility, and infrastructure differently — select one to compare.
Ground-anchored power and fibre architecture. Availability depends on tether rating, ground power, weather, gas servicing and maintenance.
Envelope-integrated flexible photovoltaics turn the platform into its own power station — a candidate source of daytime energy, subject to the full mission energy balance.
Within the atmospheric boundary layer. Highest spatial resolution (centimetre-class GSD), minimal atmospheric path for thermal and multispectral sensing. Tethered operation is most efficient here.
Precision agriculture, infrastructure inspection, event safety, search & rescueAbove most terrain and obstacles; a single station covers a 30–80 km line-of-sight radius. Air density still supports useful lift per volume. Wind climatology and propulsion power must be evaluated per location.
Regional mapping, wildfire intelligence, utilities corridors, coastal observationAir density ≈ 74–60% of sea level, so envelope volume grows ~1.4–1.7× for the same lift. Geometric 4/3-Earth horizon is approximately 226–291 km to a sea-level receiver; this is not a radio coverage guarantee. Cloud, icing and turbulence become planning factors.
Wide-area mapping, border and maritime monitoring, disaster response coordinationDensity ≈ 60–43% of sea level (~1.7–2.3× volume). Temperatures fall to −17 to −37 °C, driving thermal control of batteries and electronics. Jet-stream fringes raise station-keeping power, so free-flight operations are seasonally planned.
Regional situational awareness, atmospheric science, communications relayDensity ≈ 43–25% of sea level (~2.3–4× volume). This band shares airspace with commercial jet traffic and hosts peak jet-stream winds of 30–60 m/s, making it a transit layer rather than an operating station for most missions.
Ascent and descent transit, atmospheric profiling, short-duration sortiesDensity ≈ 25–16% of sea level (~4–6× volume). Temperature stabilises near −56 °C and winds vary with latitude and season; persistence cannot be assumed from altitude alone.
High-altitude test operations, wide-footprint sensing, relay stagingAirspace coordination remains necessary. ISA density falls from approximately 16% at 15 km to 3% at 25 km; the geometric horizon is not the sensor footprint or usable link range. Extreme UV, ozone, and −60 °C thermal cycling drive material and power design.
Wide-area situational awareness, communications relay, distributed swarm operations