Friday, July 30, 2010

Sion Power Supplies Batteries For World Record Flight

Tucson, Arizona-based Sion Power, a developer of rechargeable lithium sulfur batteries, said Thursday that its batteries were used in the QinetiQ Zephyr, the unmanned aircraft which recently broke the world record for continuous flight. Sion Power said its batteries played a critical role in allowing the Zephyr to stay aloft for more than 336 hours, breaking the prior record of 30 hours and 24 minutes. Sion said it developed the battery for the Zephyr as part of a joint development effort with QinetiQ. QinetiQ's unmanned drone aircraft is targeted at both military and commercial surveillance. The drone uses solar power during the day, and Sion's batteries at night to stay aloft.