Kea Atmos Mk1 Kea Aerospace 2022-09-07 | The solar-powered “Kea Atmos Mk 1” will be used for high-altitude flight testing in 2023. It has a wingspan of 12.5 metres and weighs under 40 kilograms. Designed to fly at 65,000 feet (20 kilometres) it will carry a camera payload to acquire aerial imagery for applications such as environmental monitoring, precision agriculture and disaster management.
First Stratospheric Flight Of The Kea Atmos Mk1b | 56,000 Feet Altitude Milestone Kea Aerospace 2025-02-11 | Kea Aerospace achieves a major milestone with the Kea Atmos Mk1b, soaring into the stratosphere for the first time. During our high-altitude campaign in January and February 2025, Flight 16 reached an impressive 56,000 feet, marking a breakthrough in our solar-powered UAV program. Taking off from the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre, the aircraft flew for 8 hours and 20 minutes, demonstrating the future of sustainable high-altitude flight.✈️🚀☀️ #StratosphericFlight #SolarUAV #KeaAerospace
Kea Atmos Mk1 Flight Over Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre Kea Aerospace 2024-12-02 | The Kea Atmos Mk1 aircraft soars over Kaitorete in November 2024. This is Kea Aerospace's first flight with the Kea Atmos using Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre's hanger facilities and runway. The flight takes off at dawn, achieves the target altitude of 6,000ft, flies for around 90 minutes, and lands back at Tāwhaki.
UAV Autonomous Flight Test Kea Aerospace 2024-02-01 | Meet some of the Kea Aerospace flight test team on a day when they’re testing the auto pilot's ‘return to home’ functionality as part of fully autonomous flight operations.
Kea Atmos Mk1 UAV Stratospheric Flight Preparations Kea Aerospace 2023-09-06 | Hear from Matthew Dimock, Kea Aerospace's Senior UAV Test Pilot, about the sixth test flight of the Kea Atmos Mk1. As we continue our innovation journey for our state-of-the-art stratospheric aircraft, this flight showcases a revamped propeller design, regenerative charging/breaking advancements, and extended trials of our horizontal prop stop system. With each flight, we're introducing modifications, like the increased take-off mass in line with stratospheric operational weights and a revised dihedral angle on the wings for enhanced stability.
Kea Atmos Mk1 Flight Kea Aerospace 2023-04-27 | A short clip of the Kea Atmos Mk1 flying at low-altitude in Canterbury, New Zealand.
Kea Atmos Mk1 Takeoff & Landing Kea Aerospace 2023-04-11 | The “Audi e-tron Sportback”, provided by Archibalds Audi in Christchurch, is an outstanding electric launch vehicle for the "Kea Atmos Mk1" solar-powered aircraft. After reaching takeoff speed, the aircraft is released and soars into the sky.
Kea Atmos Mk1 Maiden Flight Kea Aerospace 2023-03-08 | This is the first flight of the Kea Atmos Mk1 solar-powered aircraft in March 2023. The 12.5 metre wingspan Kea Atmos Mk1 took flight over Springfield Aerodrome in Canterbury. Kea Aerospace is proud to fly the Silver Fern for Aotearoa New Zealand's aerospace sector.
Stratospheric Balloon Flight Kea Aerospace 2022-10-20 | Kea Aerospace launched "Kelly the Kea" to the stratosphere on October 15th, 2022. Thanks to a High-Altitude License for launches above 60,000ft from the New Zealand Space Agency, Kelly is now an official stratonaut. This balloon flight reached just over 100,000ft and carried a scientific payload to test thermal control and a new communications system.
Solar-Powered UAV Perpetual Flight Kea Aerospace 2022-02-17 | In February 2022 Kea Aerospace flew from the morning through the day and an entire night, then fully recharged the batteries using solar energy the next day. Kea Aerospace’s “X10” unmanned aircraft demonstrates Kea Aerospace's technology for long endurance perpetual flight. To our knowledge, it's the first time this has been accomplished by a company based in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Stratospheric Challenge Kea Aerospace 2021-11-18 | There have been successful stratospheric test flights, but so far no aircraft is able to continually fly in the stratosphere to offer commercial services. Kea Aerospace is taking on the technical challenge to fly in the stratosphere to collect aerial imagery for environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, disaster management and a diverse range of other applications.
Kea Aerospace Intro Kea Aerospace 2021-06-13 | An introduction to Kea Aerospace's stratospheric aircraft with a focus on aerial imagery applications.
