The Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully carried out maiden flight-trials of Stratospheric Airship Platform from Sheopur Trial site in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.

Developed by Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, the airship was launched carrying an instrumental payload to an altitude of around 17 km, read a statement issued by the Indian Ministry of Defence.

Fidelity Simulation

The Ministry of Defence said data from onboard sensors was received and would be utilised for development of high-quality fidelity simulation models for future high-altitude airship flights.

Envelop pressure control and emergency deflation systems were deployed in flight for their performance evaluation.

"Trial team recovered the system for further investigation," the statement said.

Duration

The total duration of the flight was about 62 minutes.

In a separate X post, DRDO said: " DRDO successfully conducts maiden flight trial of Stratospheric Airship with instrumental payload to an altitude of around 17 kms. This lighter than air system will enhance India’s earth observation and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance capabilities, making the country one of the few countries in the world having such indigenous capabilities."

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Congratulates

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO for the successful maiden flight-trial of the system.

He stated that this system will uniquely enhance India’s earth observation and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance capabilities, making the country one of the few countries in the world having such indigenous capabilities.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat congratulated the DRDO team involved in design, development and trial of the system.

'Prototype Flight Touches Milestone'

He said the prototype flight is a milestone towards realisation of lighter-than-air high-altitude platform systems that can remain airborne for very long endurance at stratospheric heights.