The solar-powered drones that can stay airborne for a year

New generation of UAVs could be used for communications.

British aerospace company Prismatic is working on a solar-powered drone that can stay airborne for an entire year without any need for maintenance. The Persistent High Altitude Solar Aircraft can carry a payload of 15kg, and has the potential to replace satellites for communications in off-grid areas, for remote sensing, Earth observations, and surveillance of all kinds. It’s the most advanced of a new class of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – better known as drones – and it should be ready for tests in 2019.