Provided is a flight vehicle operating method including: mooring a flight vehicle to a mooring unit by a cable; reducing a weight of the flight vehicle, increasing the flotage of the flight vehicle, or increasing the flotage of the flight vehicle while reducing the weight of the flight vehicle, by using a first flotation adjuster; floating the flight vehicle at a suitable altitude in the air; increasing the weight of the flight vehicle, reducing the flotage of the flight vehicle, or reducing the flotage of the flight vehicle while increasing the weight of the flight vehicle, by using a second flotation adjuster or a propelling unit of the flight vehicle; and releasing the connection between the flight vehicle and the mooring unit and withdrawing the cable.

The present invention reduces a probability of condensation forming in a container for a flying object. Container 12 is a cabin of a gas balloon. Container 12 comprises Main Body 121 that is an airtight container filled with air and accommodating Crew Member H1, and Partition 122 that divides the space in Main Body 121 into Space S1 and Space S2. Partition 122 has one or more narrow Holes H. When the altitude of the flying object increases and Container 12 cools from the outside, air in Space S1 cools more slowly than the air in Space S2. A pressure difference between Space S1 and Space S2 is rapidly equalized by air flow through Holes H, but it takes a long time to equalize a temperature difference between Space S1 and Space S2. Therefore, a temperature in Space S1 becomes higher than a temperature in Space S2, and a temperature in Space S2 becomes higher than a temperature in the space outside Main Body 121. As a result, condensation is unlikely to form in Partition 122 and in the portion of Main Body 121 that forms Space S2.

The present invention reduces a probability of condensation forming in a container for a flying object. Container 12 is a cabin of a gas balloon. Container 12 comprises Main Body 121 that is an airtight container filled with air and accommodating Crew Member H1, and Partition 122 that divides the space in Main Body 121 into Space S1 and Space S2. Partition 122 has one or more narrow Holes H. When the altitude of the flying object increases and Container 12 cools from the outside, air in Space S1 cools more slowly than the air in Space S2. A pressure difference between Space S1 and Space S2 is rapidly equalized by air flow through Holes H, but it takes a long time to equalize a temperature difference between Space S1 and Space S2. Therefore, a temperature in Space S1 becomes higher than a temperature in Space S2, and a temperature in Space S2 becomes higher than a temperature in the space outside Main Body 121. As a result, condensation is unlikely to form in Partition 122 and in the portion of Main Body 121 that forms Space S2.

An intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system is disclosed including a ground station and one or more aerial vehicles. The aerial vehicles are autonomous systems capable of communicating intelligence data to the ground station and be used as part of a missile delivery package. A plurality of aerial vehicles can be configured to cast a wide net of reconnaissance over a large area on the ground including smaller overlapping reconnaissance areas provided by each of the plurality of the aerial vehicles.

An intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system is disclosed including a ground station and one or more aerial vehicles. The aerial vehicles are autonomous systems capable of communicating intelligence data to the ground station and be used as part of a missile delivery package. A plurality of aerial vehicles can be configured to cast a wide net of reconnaissance over a large area on the ground including smaller overlapping reconnaissance areas provided by each of the plurality of the aerial vehicles.

A surveillance drone is disclosed. The surveillance drone includes a gas-filled container and propellers for aerial mobility. The surveillance drone also includes an electronic surveillance sensing device positioned below the gas-filled container. The gas-filled container may be filled with a lighter than air gas such as, for example, helium.

A high altitude aerostat with external autonomous ballonets is disclosed. The invention being comprised of rigid, semi rigid and nonrigid airships of varying sizes, filled with lift gas and being able to traverse the stratosphere and the lower mesosphere. Said airship being controlled remotely or on board and having rotating thrusters powered by solar panels affixed to the envelope sides. In the stratosphere, the rigid aerostat withstands turbulence during travel. In the lower mesosphere, onboard microcontrollers and processors have the ability to deploy and charge said external ballonets with lift gas. An onboard compressor vents said ballonets and stores gas inside onboard bottles. An additional remotely-controlled satellite aerostat can link up with said airship and provide additional compressor capabilities in lower pressure elevations. The aforementioned invention can be utilized as a long-term surveillance and reconnaissance platform or provide a means for human and cargo transportation and storage.

Propulsion of an unmanned vehicle may include determining and ordering a subset of altitude-differentiated wind vectors, the subset facilitating directional air flow from a starting geographic region to a destination geographic region, and configuring the vehicle and adjusting the altitude of the vehicle to the altitude corresponding to each of the subset of wind vectors as ordered based on a flight plan that includes at least one of a duration and distance for each of the ordered subset of the wind vectors.

A method for launch of an airship includes connecting a cargo airship to a second airship that is not positively buoyant at the launch site, launching the cargo airship, transferring lifting gas from the cargo airship to the second airship where said lifting gas is carried by the cargo airship while aloft; and releasing the second airship from the cargo airship. A releasable payload return vehicle is also provided, wherein the payload return vehicle generates aerodynamic forces while it is mated to the cargo airship.

An airship and its long-term floating capacity maintenance method are disclosed. The airship includes an airship capsule and a pod at bottom. A renewable fuel cell and a water tank communicated with each other are arranged in the pod. The water tank is provided with a water inlet connected with a filling aircraft outside the airship. The airship capsule is provided with a solar cell. The interior of the airship capsule is provided with a hydrogen storage bag. The solar cell is electrically connected with the renewable fuel cell. The renewable fuel cell can use electric energy provided by the solar cell to electrolyze water provided by the filling aircraft into hydrogen and supplement the hydrogen to the hydrogen storage bag. The airship can supplement hydrogen to the airship capsule by electrolyzing water to reduce the phenomenon of insufficient gas in the airship capsule.