Complete article here: Skydweller on mission to fly uncrewed solar aircraft autonomously nonstop around the world – Futurride
Skydweller Aero landed at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow this week with an update on its progress toward its established goal of flying its uncrewed solar aircraft autonomously nonstop around the world. It exhibited with Kallman Worldwide, Inc. in its USA Pavilion, and President & COO Barry Matusmori presented on the company’s journey, the aircraft’s capabilities, and an update on aircraft flight operations. Before joining Skydweller, Matusmori was the COO of Impulse Space and had executive leadership roles at SpaceX and Virgin Orbit.
Others have achieved elements of the company’s goal of autonomous, nonstop solar power around the world flight, “but no one has ever even attempted what we intend to do,” posted Greg Caires, Communications Director for Skydweller Aero, on LinkedIn. He cited Lucky Lady II, a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress that became the first airplane to circle the world nonstop in 1949, Scaled Composites’ Voyager, Virgin Atlantic’s GlobalFlyer, and even Solar Impulse 2 that Skydweller purchased in 2019.