Airbus' solar-powered aircraft Zephyr completes two 18-day flights

Aerospace firm Airbus has completed two 18-day stratospheric flights of its solar-powered aircraft, called Zephyr, 76,100 feet above the Earth. Zephyr's solar powered test flights in the stratosphere – the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere – set a new world record for altitude this summer, Airbus says. The firm now wants to deploy the'high altitude pseudo-satellite' (HAPS) for surveillance and beaming broadband down to remote areas that don't have internet. Zephyr, an UAV with two small propellers, is powered exclusively by the Sun, thanks to solar panels lining its whole 82-foot wingspan. It's typically hand-launched by four to five ground crew, fast-walking or jogging into a light wind, but it features on-board software for remote navigation.