Renovation of Europe’s air traffic management (ATM) is progressing at a steady speed but with shifted priorities, as the backers of the Single European Sky Research (SESAR) project manage their budgets amid the pandemic.
Prismatic’s PHASA-35 high-altitude pseudo-satellite has been fitted with a sensor payload and been taken through simulated cold soak testing to prepare it for stratospheric flight.
The startup describes the flight from Camarillo to Hayward in California as “the longest flight to date for any commercially relevant aircraft employing electric propulsion.”
The company is making key technology choices early and still has massive challenges ahead: technological, regulatory and in convincing industry partners to participate.