Flight Strategy for Fixed Wing Pseudo Satellite to Achieve Maximum Endurance

This Advancements in autopilot (AP) technology and autonomous systems has led to rapid advances in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in recent years. Improvements in battery technology and Photovoltaic (PV) arrays has enabled the progress of UAV development into an entirely new class of UAVs, the pseudo satellite systems. These are fixed wing aircraft or helium balloons with the capability of flying in the stratosphere at a height of 30km to 50km above mean sea level. This technology has opened up multiple avenues for research and applications such as persistent surveillance communication, aerial photography and climatology. Pseudo satellites have the ability to act as a bridge between Ground Control Station (GCS) and orbital satellite systems, or to serve as orbital satellites for a limited duration. Equipped with high endurance and better payload capabilities, pseudo satellites find application in the field of defense, communication, weather forecasting, terrain mapping and geology. This paper presents a review of the general architecture and various strategies implemented in pseudo satellite flight, and proposes a flight strategy which is compatible with existing designs to increase the flight time.