AeroVironment, Inc: First-Gen High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS)
About the Project
Client: AeroVironment, Inc.
Sector: Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles / Telecommunications
Application: Structural bracing for solar-powered stratospheric aircraft
Product used: monolithiC (flattened variant)
Future Fibres was proud to supply AeroVironment’s first-generation High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) – a groundbreaking, solar-powered aircraft designed to fly for months at a time at stratospheric altitudes. Acting as a high-quality, low-latency telecom relay, HAPS reimagines network infrastructure from above.
Contribution – The X-Braces: We supplied lightweight, custom monolithiC carbon fibre rods to form X-braces within the aircraft’s wing structure. Unlike standard rectangular designs, the airframe of the first generation of HAPS was built as a parallelogram, offering more flexibility and therefore more stability in flight for the lightweight aircraft.
Future Fibres’ cross-bracing solution helps bring the in-plane load path to a triangular/truss style structure – enhancing load efficiency, stability, and in-flight durability without compromising weight.
Tailored Performance in Extreme Environments:
To meet the demands of high-altitude flight, we engineered a flattened version of our monolithiC product. monolithiC is Future Fibres’ industrial solid rod product, optimised for the smallest and lightest characteristics and tailored to specific applications. We modified the rods’ section inertia, using custom tooling to flatten it. One added benefit of this is that the cables coil more easily along their thin edge while retaining exceptional structural performance.
Designed to perform:
- Stratospheric conditions: extreme thermal gradients from room temperature to sub-zero edge-of-space levels.
- Fatigue resistance: for continuous flight lasting weeks to months.
- Static performance: supporting onboard optics with minimal thermal movement.
The Result:
A robust, extremely lightweight bracing system for a novel airframe – helping to support future-ready aircraft that operate at the edge of space.
Working in an industry which could benefit from high-performance tensile cables? Future Fibres has worked in industries from aerospace, to civil engineering, to architecture, motorsport and beyond – learn more about industrial applications, or get in touch with an expert.
