On Sunday 19th December 2021, Kea Aerospace recorded the longest known flight for an unmanned aircraft in New Zealand, in an electric-powered flight of the “X1” aircraft above Kaitōrete, near Christchurch. The battery and solar-powered aircraft flew non-stop for 14 hours and 3 minutes.
Solar-powered perpetual flight was achieved on a 36-hour flight in February 15th, 2022. We flew our “X10” unmanned aircraft from the morning through the day and an entire night, then fully recharged the batteries using solar energy the next day. This aircraft demonstrated Kea Aerospace’s technology capability for long endurance perpetual flight. To our knowledge, it’s the first time this has been accomplished by a company based in the Southern Hemisphere.
