The Spacefleet Project (UK)

Theoretical work on the EARL and its mission - in progress in Romania. Looking very good. Sub-scale flying demo now under construction.

A digital model of EARL has been created for research purposes, that flies i the X-Plane simulator. It incorporates an external hardware UAV unit for automatic control, along with an external standard radio control unit. In this way, the radio control and UAV unit can fly EARL in the simulator, where the hull design can be changed at will. When we have got it the way we want, we can build the physical object and it will fly the same way, with the same controls. A 1m-long research vehicle with electric propulsion is now built, except for the paint and a radio control unit. We will fly it in a few week's time. After that we will mount a rocket engine for extended flight envelope testing, before going on to a larger research vehicle (3.0m long) with mini-jets, to be replaced, later on by a rocket motor that could take EARL-D4 up to 20km or so, after which it will fly back and land automatically.

That is about as much as we will be able to afford on our own. If you are strongly interested in this project and would like to help to push it forward, or rather upward, into space, please get in touch.