Kea Aerospace Achieves Historic Stratospheric Flight

February 12th, 2025

Kea Aerospace has successfully completed a solar-powered flight to the stratosphere with the Kea Atmos Mk1b . The milestone UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) flight, conducted within Kea Aerospace’s Special Use Airspace south of Banks Peninsula, flew to an altitude of over 56,000ft and marks another significant achievement for New Zealand’s aerospace sector.

The mission commenced with the Kea Atmos Mk1b taking off from the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre at 8:07am on Saturday, February 8th. It soared to an altitude of 56,284 feet, flew for 8 hours and 20 minutes, reached a range of 18.9 nautical miles from the take-off area (35 kilometres), covered a total flight distance of 420 kilometres and landed at 4:27pm. 

Flying in the stratosphere positions the UAV above weather, high winds and other aircraft, and enables continuous flight for multiple months. The use of solar power eliminates the need for refuelling, significantly reducing the Kea Atmos’ carbon footprint. The aircraft is designed to carry payloads for earth observation, telecommunications and technology testing. A key focus is on aerial imagery applications, including environmental monitoring, maritime domain awareness, precision agriculture and disaster response.

Mark Rocket, CEO of Kea Aerospace, expressed his excitement: “This stratospheric flight puts Kea Aerospace alongside just a handful of other international companies that can achieve solar-powered flight to high altitudes. It’s not an easy enterprise to balance the aerodynamic, power and weight allowances for this type of aircraft, whilst flying in conditions of -50 degrees Celsius with only 10% of the air density we experience at sea level. Kudos and congratulations to our CTO, Dr Philipp Sueltrop and the Kea Aerospace team, it’s a phenomenal result to join the rarified stratospheric club.”

The Kea Atmos Mk1 is a 12.5 metre wingspan aircraft, that weighs less than 40 kilograms, and is designed for dawn to dusk one-day flight missions. This year, Kea Aerospace will continue conducting stratospheric flights with Kea Atmos Mk1 aircraft, flying payloads for government and commercial customers. In 2025, Kea Aerospace will also commence the design phase for the larger Kea Atmos Mk2 aircraft, which will be engineered for multi-month endurance flights, and is in current talks with new investors.

Mark Rocket added: “We feel very fortunate to do our aerospace R&D work in New Zealand, we have been extremely well supported by entities such as the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre, Civil Aviation Authority, Airways, Callaghan Innovation, the New Zealand Space Agency and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Thank you for enabling us to make this happen!”