{"id":20022632,"date":"2026-09-04T10:15:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T08:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dlr-hap-alpha-first-flight-cochstedt-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T10:16:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T08:16:04","slug":"dlr-hap-alpha-first-flight-cochstedt-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fr\/dlr-hap-alpha-first-flight-cochstedt-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"HAP-alpha\u00a0: l\u2019avion solaire de 138\u00a0kilogrammes du DLR d\u00e9colle"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n<p>An aircraft with three quarters the wingspan of an Airbus A320 and the weight of two adults took off from a runway in Saxony-Anhalt on 2 September, flew a wide, careful circuit for seventy minutes, and landed again. It never went higher than 180 metres.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That is not a modest result. It is the first flight of HAP-alpha, the German Aerospace Center\u2019s solar-powered high-altitude platform, and the start of a programme aimed at parking an aircraft in the stratosphere for weeks at a time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The numbers are the story: 27 metres of wing, 138 kilograms all up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 24px;margin:26px 0;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><table style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px\"><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Aircraft<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">HAP-alpha, uncrewed high-altitude platform<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Operator<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">DLR, German Aerospace Center<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>First flight<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">2 September 2026<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Location<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">DLR National Experimental Test Center, Cochstedt, Germany<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Duration<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">About 70 minutes<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Maximum height<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">Approximately 180 metres above ground<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Wingspan<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">27 metres<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Mass<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">138 kilograms<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Power<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">Solar only<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Design cruise altitude<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">Up to 20 kilometres<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Wind limit for first flight<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">1 metre per second<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Payloads planned<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">MACS-HAP camera system and HAPSAR synthetic aperture radar<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;width:38%\"><strong>Institutes involved<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#222\">16 DLR institutes and facilities<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Built so light it bends<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The engineering problem with a solar high-altitude aircraft is circular. To fly on sunlight alone you need an enormous wing and very little mass. Very little mass over an enormous wing means a structure that flexes dramatically in flight and is acutely vulnerable to aeroelastic effects \u2014 above all flutter, the self-reinforcing oscillation that can destroy an airframe in seconds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>DLR spent a long time on the ground before it risked the air. A ground vibration test completed in July 2025 fitted the airframe with electromechanical shakers and dozens of sensors to map exactly how it wanted to oscillate.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;The successful Ground Vibration Test is a significant step in the development of our high-altitude platform. It shows that we are on the right track to overcoming complex aeroelastic challenges and preparing the platform for flight.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Julian Sinske<\/strong> &mdash; DLR Institute of Aeroelasticity, on completing the HAP-alpha ground vibration test<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The maiden flight was then treated with the caution the airframe deserves. Wind speed had to be no more than one metre per second. Airspeed was kept between roughly 30 and 50 km\/h. The point of the sortie was to collect validation data for the flight-dynamics models, not to demonstrate anything spectacular.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1374892270  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/nasa-helios-prototype-solar-flying-wing.jpg\" alt=\"NASA Helios Prototype solar-powered flying wing\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The lineage: NASA\u2019s Helios Prototype, the most famous solar high-altitude aircraft ever built, which reached 96,863 feet in 2001 and then broke up over the Pacific in 2003 after encountering turbulence. Structural flexibility is the central problem of the genre. Photo: NASA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>That caution is well earned. Helios set an altitude record for propeller-driven aircraft and then came apart in flight two years later. Everyone working in this field has read that accident report.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A 25-person crew for one aeroplane<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>HAP-alpha is flown by a remote pilot from a mission control centre, with a 25-strong interdisciplinary team monitoring every manoeuvre and a safety pilot standing at the edge of the runway ready to take over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The project is led by the DLR Institute of Flight Systems, with fifteen other DLR institutes and facilities contributing \u2014 lightweight structures, aeroelasticity, aerodynamics, flight guidance, software, remote sensing, radar, atmospheric physics, electrified propulsion and more. The airframe itself is built at Braunschweig.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;With HAP-alpha, DLR is demonstrating its comprehensive systems expertise in the complete design, development and operation of a new and innovative aircraft, incorporating all disciplines.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Markus Fischer<\/strong> &mdash; DLR Executive Board Member for Aeronautics<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What it is actually for<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The target is the lower stratosphere, around 20 kilometres up. That altitude is interesting because it is above the weather and above controlled airspace, but far below orbit. An aircraft loitering there can stare continuously at one patch of ground in a way a satellite in low Earth orbit cannot, and it can be landed, modified and sent back up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>DLR is developing two payloads specifically for it: MACS-HAP, a modular high-resolution camera system, and HAPSAR, a synthetic aperture radar. The stated applications are shipping-lane monitoring, disaster response, environmental monitoring and internet provision.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #8a94a6;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;This allows the project team to focus on the upcoming complete system tests, which will mark the completion of ground testing and enable subsequent flight testing.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Florian Nikodem<\/strong> &mdash; HAP project leader, DLR Institute of Flight Systems<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CyZ_JoGIcXM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Where solar high-altitude platforms sit between conventional drones and satellites, and why several governments are funding them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What happens next<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The flight data is being analysed before a second low-altitude sortie is scheduled. After that, DLR plans higher flights over very sparsely populated areas or over the sea \u2014 because an aircraft this fragile, climbing through the weather towards 20 kilometres, is not something anyone wants to attempt over a town.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It is a long way from 180 metres to 20,000. But every solar high-altitude programme that ever worked started with a very light aeroplane going round the airfield very slowly on a very calm day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What is HAP-alpha?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">HAP-alpha is an uncrewed, solar-powered high-altitude platform built by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. It has a 27-metre wingspan, weighs just 138 kilograms, and is designed to cruise in the lower stratosphere at altitudes of up to 20 kilometres carrying Earth-observation and communications payloads.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did HAP-alpha make its first flight?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">On 2 September 2026, at DLR\u2019s National Experimental Test Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Cochstedt in Germany. The aircraft was airborne for about 70 minutes and reached a maximum of roughly 180 metres above the ground.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why did HAP-alpha only fly at 180 metres?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The first flight was about validating flight-dynamics models, not altitude. With a 27-metre span and a mass of 138 kilograms the airframe deforms significantly in flight and is vulnerable to flutter, so the wind limit for the maiden flight was set at one metre per second and the profile was kept low and slow, between roughly 30 and 50 km\/h.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How is HAP-alpha flown?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It is flown by a remote pilot from a mission control centre, monitored by a 25-person interdisciplinary team, with a safety pilot standing by on the runway itself in case of emergency.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What sensors will HAP-alpha carry?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Two DLR-developed systems: MACS-HAP, a Modular Aerial Camera System for High Altitude Platforms, and HAPSAR, a High Altitude Platform Synthetic Aperture Radar. Both are intended for persistent Earth observation from the stratosphere.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is a HAPS and why does it matter?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A High-Altitude Platform Station is an aircraft or airship that loiters in the lower stratosphere for long periods, sitting between conventional aircraft and satellites. Unlike a satellite it can stare at one region continuously and be brought home and modified; unlike a conventional drone it can in principle stay up for very long periods on solar power alone.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who builds HAP-alpha?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">DLR builds it in-house. The aircraft is manufactured at DLR\u2019s Braunschweig site and the project is led by the DLR Institute of Flight Systems with 15 other DLR institutes and facilities involved, making DLR the only major European research organisation that develops and operates such a platform independently.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is HAP-alpha?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"HAP-alpha is an uncrewed, solar-powered high-altitude platform built by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. It has a 27-metre wingspan, weighs just 138 kilograms, and is designed to cruise in the lower stratosphere at altitudes of up to 20 kilometres carrying Earth-observation and communications payloads.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did HAP-alpha make its first flight?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"On 2 September 2026, at DLR\u2019s National Experimental Test Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Cochstedt in Germany. The aircraft was airborne for about 70 minutes and reached a maximum of roughly 180 metres above the ground.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did HAP-alpha only fly at 180 metres?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The first flight was about validating flight-dynamics models, not altitude. With a 27-metre span and a mass of 138 kilograms the airframe deforms significantly in flight and is vulnerable to flutter, so the wind limit for the maiden flight was set at one metre per second and the profile was kept low and slow, between roughly 30 and 50 km\/h.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How is HAP-alpha flown?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It is flown by a remote pilot from a mission control centre, monitored by a 25-person interdisciplinary team, with a safety pilot standing by on the runway itself in case of emergency.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What sensors will HAP-alpha carry?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Two DLR-developed systems: MACS-HAP, a Modular Aerial Camera System for High Altitude Platforms, and HAPSAR, a High Altitude Platform Synthetic Aperture Radar. Both are intended for persistent Earth observation from the stratosphere.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is a HAPS and why does it matter?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A High-Altitude Platform Station is an aircraft or airship that loiters in the lower stratosphere for long periods, sitting between conventional aircraft and satellites. Unlike a satellite it can stare at one region continuously and be brought home and modified; unlike a conventional drone it can in principle stay up for very long periods on solar power alone.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who builds HAP-alpha?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"DLR builds it in-house. The aircraft is manufactured at DLR\u2019s Braunschweig site and the project is led by the DLR Institute of Flight Systems with 15 other DLR institutes and facilities involved, making DLR the only major European research organisation that develops and operates such a platform independently.\"}}]}<\/script><p><em>Sources: DLR, aeroTELEGRAPH, Drones Magazin, aero.de, NASA.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/zuri-uncrewed-cargo-tiltrotor-vtol-2026\/\">Zuri Reveals an Uncrewed Cargo Tiltrotor for Offshore and Relief<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/why-airliners-carbon-fiber-composite-vs-aluminium\/\">Why Airliners Are Made of Plastic Now<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DLR&#8217;s HAP-alpha &#8211; 27 metres of wing, 138 kilograms, solar powered &#8211; flew for the first time at Cochstedt on 2 September 2026. The target is 20 kilometres up.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":20022218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20022632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>HAP-alpha: DLR\u2019s 138-Kilogram Solar Aircraft Flies | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DLR\u2019s HAP-alpha - 27 metres of wing, 138 kilograms, solar powered - flew for the first time at Cochstedt on 2 September 2026.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fr\/dlr-hap-alpha-first-flight-cochstedt-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HAP-alpha: DLR\u2019s 138-Kilogram Solar Aircraft Flies | MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DLR\u2019s HAP-alpha - 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