StratCom International LLC, the US-based aerospace company, which is building the world's first stratospheric airship for civil and military telecom applications, has offered to market its unique product in India.
The Florida aerospace company, founded by Lt Gen James A Abrahamson (retired), a former director of the US Star Wars programme during the Reagan regime, is also holding discussions with the Indian space and defence organisations for collaboration in the ambitious project.
The project is funded by the US Defense Department.
"Stratospheric airships are unmanned, autonomous solar powered airships, designed to fly at about 65,000 feet (20 km) to provide reliable transmission to civilian and military applications, including mobile data communications, tele-medicine, disaster management, and healthcare," Abrahamson told the media in Bangalore on Thursday.
Though the airship technology has been in vogue over the decades, it is for the first time StratCom has embarked upon the project recently to build the prototype stratospheric airship in association with Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems and other US aerospace firms.
"The US Department of Defense has provided $100 million seed capital to build the prototype of the airship, which is set for take-off in 2005-06. It is being fitted with unique payload mixtures for rapid deployment, reconfiguration and upgradation as a floating platform up in the air," Abrahamson disclosed.
To develop specific civilian and military applications tailored to Indian requirements, StratCom has initiated a dialogue with the Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation, the Defence Research and Development Organisation, and private aerospace firms for joint development.
"We intend to use India's expertise in the development of civil and military payloads for the domestic as well as the global market. With their capabilities to launch rockets and build own satellites, Indian space and defence scientists are capable of adding value to our airship project," Abrahamson observed.
The company is also looking at outsourcing avionics software and IT applications from India's leading global IT majors for the dual payloads.
In view of India's huge population (over 1.2 billion) and high concentration of people in hundreds of cities and towns across the country, the potential for StratCom's airships is immense.
"The stratospheric airships offer developing countries like India a first-move advantage in dual applications to bridge the digital divide. They can be positioned over a single point on the surface of the earth and can have a reach of 500km range for utilising their payloads," Abrahamson stated.
Powered by solar cells, the airships are independent of towers, base stations and other ground equipment. They also can help reach any remote place in the region with their mixed optical and radar sensors, besides robust communication packages.
Highlighting the cost benefit of using such airships, the StratCom chairman and CEO said the each of the airship could cost about $15-20 million depending on the payloads, which are scalable to 7000lb (5440 kg) from a low of 2000lb (907 kg).
Measuring about 500-600 ft in length and 150-180 ft in diameter, the airships can be retained in space as a floating platform from 1-5 years with helium gas. They can be remotely controlled from earth for navigational and maneuvering purposes.
"Using the most advanced technology, the airships will be positioned 37 times closer than the low-earth orbiting satellites. They will be augmenting the existing satellite communication facilities for providing extra bandwidth to enable interactive television and radio broadcast, wireless communications for mobile users and video-conferencing," Abrahamson claimed.
Military payloads can include very high-resolution multi-spectral cameras for observing ground, airborne or space targets; low and higher frequency radars for ground imaging or aeronautical/space target tracking and bi-static or passive RF sensors.
According to K Ramchand, chairman of the Institute of Defence & Science Technology (Bangalore chapter), the stratospheric airship is a breakthrough in space technology that can be effectively used to improve India's multiple communications systems.