China's first electric-powered tethered kite balloon for remote sensing monitoring Photo: Screenshot from the website of Science and Technology Daily
China's first electric-powered tethered kite balloon for remote sensing monitoring completed its maiden flight in Jianping county, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, on Saturday, Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday.
Lifted by helium buoyancy, the airship can stay aloft for a continuous 24 hours, conducting fire monitoring and assessing power infrastructure – including transmission line icing – within a 20-kilometer coverage radius.
Measuring 32.8 meters in length and 13.8 meters in height, the 1,818-cubic-meter tethered airship hovers stably about 200 meters above ground and is connected to a ground winch. Its structure includes the main envelope, gondola, tail fins, pressure system, and onboard monitoring and control systems.
According to Geng Lina, technical executive responsible for the project from the State Grid Liaoning Electric Power Supply Co., the intelligent airship inspection platform developed by the company offers multiple functions, including mountain wildfire monitoring, power line inspection and atmospheric monitoring and has already been integrated with Liaoning's energy big data system, with relevant technical research results achieved.
The airship, ground data system, and data processing platform form an integrated monitoring network that combines remote sensing and multi-source data, enabling continuous, all-weather surveillance of power grid equipment and supporting disaster prevention in the energy sector.
