Comment by padjo

1 day ago

I wonder what sort of payload it has. Could this conceivably lift a person?

Yes. It is indeed based on the Solar Impulse 2, the first manned solar aircraft to circumnavigate the earth.

https://alert5.com/2025/07/30/converted-solar-impulse-2-airc...

  • You can use 'circumvent' here, but the meaning is a little odd. That's more like heading from Mars to the Sun and finding a way around the Earth to continue to your destination. Usually, people use 'circumnavigate' instead, which is used to describe vehicles (boats, planes, bicycles, etc.) making their way all the way around Earth.

One possible payload would be a fast deploy cellular base station that can loiter over disaster areas to provide connectivity. Backhaul would be via satellite like Starlink or if you have multiple aircraft you can route between them to a place with working connectivity. They could also broadcast FM emergency update info.

  • If you ever dig through Tarana's patents, what you'll come across is more or less what you're describing.

  • Presumably they could also be rented for big commercial outdoor events, too. On a grander scale, maybe these might make a big network like the old Project Loon more feasible, though presumably the things would have to be able to fly high enough to escape most of the weather (and vandals and conspiracy theorists armed with rifles).