It is reported that the secret project of Google co-founder Sergey Brin to build a huge electric airship is rapidly expanding in scale. At present, this research enterprise called lighter than air (LTA) is preparing for its first large-scale test flight later this year. The tech billionaire hired hundreds of aerospace engineers in Silicon Valley and Akron, Ohio, where Goodyear airships are famous. Their goal is to build airships for humanitarian missions in remote or disaster stricken areas.
LTA was established in 2014, and Brin resigned from the senior management position of Google parent company alphabet in 2019. The headquarters of this airship start-up enterprise is located at Moffett airport in the San Francisco Bay area. It is a facility owned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), not far from Google headquarters. NASA began to rent facilities from this technology company in 2015.
The latest annual agency document submitted by its parent company, alphabet, shows that the fees paid by LTA to Google for the use of Moffett airport have increased by more than 10 times in the past three years. This document discloses the "fair transaction" with brin's company since 2017.
Five years ago, this part of the company's expenditure was only US $131000, which increased from US $100000 per year by march2019 to US $10.9 million by march2022. The rapid growth of expenditure indicates that LTA is accelerating its development.
LTA hopes to reshape the image of airships in people's hearts in the 21st century through "zero emission" flight. The company's first full-size airship, the 120 meter long Pathfinder 1, is scheduled to begin test flights over Silicon Valley this year.
Another larger airship, Pathfinder 3, is being developed in Akron's air terminal. When it was completed in 1929, the terminal became the largest building in the world. Today, it is still one of the largest aerospace facilities in the world. In the coming months, the recruitment activities in Akron will double the total number of LTAS to more than 400.
Alan Weston, a former NASA program director who has led LTA since 2016, told local media in Ohio in May this year that the company is building "the largest aircraft on earth" in Akron. Weston said that when it is completed next year, the 185 meter long Pathfinder 3 will eventually be able to carry 96 tons of cargo within a 10000 mile (16000 km) range.
Pathfinder 3 is 60 meters shorter than the ill fated Hindenburg class airship. The latter promised to completely change passenger flights in the 1930s, but a catastrophic accident in New Jersey killed 36 people and shattered the ambition of the project. At present, it is not clear whether brin himself will participate in the daily operation of LTA, but he is one of the 13 inventors of a key U.S. patent granted to the company last April. The patent relates to "methods and devices for building airships", which uses 3D printing and carbon fiber tubes to reduce costs and speed up production.
Weston said: "we believe that this advanced technology can enable airships to reach remote areas with almost no infrastructure, so as to speed up humanitarian assistance and reduce the carbon emission level of air and cargo transportation."
Among many positions recruited by LTA, including a "flight test engineer" in Silicon Valley, which requires "first flight experience of experimental aircraft". The benefits in the job recruitment information include free lunch, small gifts and occasional airship ride.