Company attributes
Lighter Than Air (LTA) is an aerospace research and development company that manufactures experimental and certified airships for both crewed and uncrewed flight. The company is focused on developing the technology and capability of airships while also lowering the cost to make airships useful in modern applications. This includes applications such as humanitarian aid delivery, disaster response and relief efforts, and reduced carbon emissions for flight while making use of the airship's ability to reach remote areas that cannot otherwise be accessed by plane or boat due to limited or destroyed infrastructure.
LTA was founded in 2015 by Google cofounder Sergey Brin with the opening of a research and development lab in Mountain View, California, and a second hangar opened in Akron, Ohio, in 2016.
The company developed a debut prototype, the Pathfinder 1, which was 120 meters long and 40 meters wide at its widest, with a dozen propellers and laser sensors, described as making the blimp's advertising at NFL games seem nothing more than inflated bags with minimal gondolas stuck underneath. According to reports, the airship was able to lift 28 tons, cruise at speeds up to 110 kilometers per hour, and offer a range of more than 4,500 kilometers.
Image of the Pathfinder 1 in the Akron, Ohio hangar.
LTA has said the development of the airship has looked at using new and different materials to make them safe to fly and maintain their strength and low weight. This has included using carbon fiber-reinforced polymer tubes with titanium joints in the frame and 3D girders while using non-flammable helium as a lifting gas. LTA Research is also developing a second prototype, the Pathfinder 3, intended to 180 meters long.
The Pathfinder 1 uses twelve electric propeller motors, which line the sides and tail of the airship and are capable of rotating +180 to -180 degrees for directional control. The motors are controlled by a fly-by-wire system, which combines pilot commands with sensor feedback to direct the motors and four fin rudders to fly the airship. And the airship uses Lidar sensors to accurately and continuously calculate the volume of helium in the gas cells to maintain flight safety, while the outer covering of the airship is a laminated Tedlar material, which has shown to be lightweight, strong, non-flammable, and UV-resistant.
