High-Altitude Platform (HAP)

• The High-Altitude Platform (HAP) from the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) located at Chitradurga, Karnataka has successfully completed an important flight test series with its certified autopilot system.

What is High-Altitude Platform (HAP)?

• Introduction: It is a stratospheric solar-powered vehicle capable of flying for long durations at high altitudes (20–25 km).
  • This technology acts as a link between satellites and drones and can play an important role in various fields.
• Purpose:
  • Patrolling and surveillance in border and sensitive areas
  • Continuous aerial coverage for military and civilian purposes
  • Act as a platform for telecommunication and meteorology 
• Development: National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL), Bengaluru
• Test site: Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) at Challakere, Chitradurga
• Payload capacity: Subscale – 1 kg; Full version – 10 kg (radiosonde, 5G station etc.)
  • Radiosonde is a balloon-borne instrument used to collect atmospheric data. The instrument is suspended below a balloon filled with hydrogen or helium. As the radiosonde is lifted, it measures pressure, temperature and relative humidity.
• Wingspan: 12 m (subscale model); total weight less than 22 kg.

Key Features

• The HAP is equipped with a proven and sensor-redundant autopilot system that enables fully autonomous operation with no human intervention required.
• The vehicle is developed with indigenous control laws, navigation algorithms and automatic fail-safes, rather than relying on open-source systems. 

Strategic and Civil Applications

In Defence Sector

• Surveillance and intelligence collection in border areas
• Real-time data support in counter-terrorism operations
• Aerial surveillance during disaster management

Meteorology

• Monsoon cloud monitoring in collaboration with IITM Pune
• High-level weather data collection except radiosondes

Telecommunication Sector

• Providing temporary 5G networks in remote and disaster-prone areas
• Act as a backup to communication infrastructure

Geoinformatics

• Environmental monitoring and mapping
• Data collection of agriculture and forest areas