Raven Industries Announces Historic Five-Hour Flight of 'HiSentinel' Powered Stratospheric Airship |
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Raven Industries
P.O. Box 5107
Sioux Falls, SD, 57117
USA
Press release date: November 18, 2005
SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Raven Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAVN) today announced that its subsidiary, Aerostar International, Inc., along with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) successfully launched and flew a powered stratospheric airship.
The flight took place from Roswell, NM on Tuesday, November 8. Aerostar provided detail design and engineering, fabricated the airship's hull, and participated in flight operations from the Roswell NM airport. SwRI, the team lead, designed the airship and provided the Flight Controller along with the Telemetry, Power, and Propulsion systems. AFRL developed the launch procedure, provided the test facilities, and provided the crew and logistics for the launch. The Army Space and Missile Defense Command (ASMDC) sponsored the demonstration. Raven demonstrated a small stratospheric airship with a five-pound payload in 1969. Tuesday's flight carried a sixty-pound equipment pod to 74,000 feet on a five-hour flight-only the second airship in history to achieve powered flight in the stratosphere.
The project, titled HiSentinel, is focused on developing small near-space airships for inexpensive tactical communications and Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications. The relatively inexpensive nature of the Hi Sentinel system will allow several test flights per year to take place, Raven President and CEO Ronald M. Moquist said. Future test flights will include multi-day missions with solar power and demonstration of the SwRI autonomous station-keeping autopilot. Once operational, the system may be deployable by local commanders in theater operations. HiSentinel is part of Aerostar's ongoing technology roadmap in developing inexpensive stratospheric LTA (Lighter Than Air) platforms for military and commercial use.
About Raven Industries, Inc. Raven is an industrial manufacturer that provides electronics manufacturing services, reinforced plastic sheeting and flow control devices to various markets.
On the Internet, information is available at http://www.ravenind.com/ , the company's website.
SIC Codes: 3672, 3081, 3829
Source: Raven Industries, Inc.
CONTACT: Tom Iacarella, VP & CFO, +1-605-336-2750, Mike Smith, Sr. Aerospace Engineer, +1-903-885-0728, both of Raven Industries, Inc., or, General Inquiries, Dennis Waite, +1-708-246-6265, Analyst Inquiries, Leslie Loyet, +1-312-640-6672, Media Inquiries, Tim Grace, +1-312-640-6741, all of Financial Relations Board
Web site: http://www.ravenind.com/
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