Source: TOI
Context: India’s indigenously developed High-Altitude Platform (HAP) prototype, designed by NAL, successfully completed pre-monsoon flight tests using a certified autopilot system.
About High-Altitude Platform (HAP) Prototype:
- What is HAP?
- A High-Altitude Platform (HAP) is a solar-powered, unmanned stratospheric aircraft that operates at 17–22 km altitude, bridging the gap between terrestrial systems and satellites.
- Developed By:
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- National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru under CSIR.
- Supported by Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka.
- Objectives:
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- Border patrolling and surveillance over sensitive and remote terrains.
- To provide persistent aerial coverage for military and civil applications.
- Serve as a telecommunication relay and meteorological platform.
- Key Features of India’s HAP:
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- Solar-Powered Platform: Enables extended, high-endurance flight.
- Certified Autopilot System: Fully autonomous flight with fail-safe algorithms and redundant control sensors.
- Altitude Achieved: Up to 24,000 ft (FL240) in recent tests and full-scale version can operate at 65,000 ft (20 km).
- Payload Capacity: Subscale – 1kg and Full-scale – 10kg (including radiosondes, 5G base stations).
- Endurance: 8.5+ hours in test flights and longer duration planned in final model.
- Wingspan: 12 metres (subscale model) and light-weight under 22kg.
- Applications of HAP:
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- Defence: Border surveillance, intelligence gathering, disaster response.
- Meteorology: Radiosonde deployment, monsoon cloud measurements (IITM, Pune use case).
- Telecommunications: Temporary or mobile 5G connectivity in remote or disaster-hit areas.
- Geoinformatics: Real-time mapping, environmental monitoring.
- Crowd Monitoring: Public safety during large events or protests.
