Drones Reach Stratospheric Heights in Race to Fly Higher, Longer

Very impressive! Great overview article about this subject by Wall Street Journal. Here is the Wikipedia entry for this drone.

"... A handful of military drones have for years operated at some 60,000 feet, far higher than jumbo jets. Now companies are developing craft that can go even higher and stay there for months, offering a cheaper and more flexible alternative to satellites.

BAE Systems, the British weapons maker that produced the drone that flew in New Mexico, said its solar-powered craft is designed to stay in the air for as long as a year.

“It allows us to enter the race to operationalize the stratosphere,” said Dave Corfield, chief executive of Prismatic, the BAE unit that developed the drone. 

In the recent test flight, the PHASA-35 drone climbed above 65,000 feet and flew for 24 hours before landing. It is expected to enter service as soon as late 2026. ...
Elsewhere, a unit of plane maker Airbus has developed a drone called the Zephyr that has already flown up to 70,000 feet for 64 days. This summer the craft is set to conduct tests for the U.S. Department of Defense and a Japanese telecommunications company. Its target is to fly for more than 200 days. ...
Highflying military drones already in service include Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ Reaper, which can reach around 60,000 feet and 50,000 feet, respectively. Both can fly for around 30 hours. ...

Once in the stratosphere, these drones then face temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius as well as solar radiation, which their sophisticated electronics will be exposed to for months. ..."

Drones Reach Stratospheric Heights in Race to Fly Higher, Longer - WSJ New military and commercial craft aim to go far higher than jumbo jets and stay there for months, offering more flexible alternative to satellites

BAE Systems’ PHASA-35 drone has a wingspan of 115 feet but weighs only as much as a typical motorcycle