An anonymous reader share a report: As dawn breaks over Silicon Valley, the world gets its first look at Pathfinder 1, a prototype electric airship that its manufacturer LTA Research hopes will usher in a new era in climate-friendly air travel and will accelerate the humanitarian work of its funder, Google. co-founder Sergey Brin. The airship – its snow-white steampunk profile visible from busy Highway 101 – took drone technology such as fly-by-wire flight controls, electric motors and lidar sensing, and supersized them to become something more as long as three Boeing 737s, potentially capable of carrying tons of goods over several hundred kilometers.
“It’s been 10 years of blood, sweat and tears,” LTA CEO Alan Weston told TechCrunch on the eve of the unveiling. “Now we need to show that this device can fly reliably in real-world conditions. And we’re going to do that.” A series of increasingly ambitious flight tests await us, before Pathfinder 1 is transferred to Akron, Ohio, where LTA Research is planning an even larger airship, the Pathfinder 3. The company hopes to eventually produce a family of airships to provide disaster relief where roads and airports are damaged, as does carbon-free passenger transport.
However, next year, the gigantic airship looks set to become a landmark in Silicon Valley, as its new materials and systems are methodically put to the test within earshot of companies like Google, Meta and Amazon. “I’m excited about the potential to build not just one airship, but to lay the foundation for building many airships,” Weston said. “The innovations and technologies we are about to demonstrate have the potential to lay the foundation for a new industry.”
