01Target application
Defence & ISR
Persistent aerial observation over large areas, with a single platform holding station instead of rotating short-endurance sorties.
Persistent Flight.Powered by the Sun.
SuryaPakshi is a solar-powered autonomous fixed-wing platform engineered for persistent aerial surveillance and reconnaissance.
- Architecture
- Solar flying wing
- Concept span
- 2.5 m
- Cell efficiency
- ~20% · target
- Objective
- Days → weeks aloft
01The problem
Conventional UAVs are constrained by energy.
Most drones fly until the battery runs out. Every landing is a gap in coverage. For missions that need eyes on an area for days, endurance is the limit.
Conventional UAV
Sortie-based- Launch→
- Mission→
- Battery depletion→
- Landing→
- Recharge→
- Relaunch
- repeat from launch
Coverage
Gap
Coverage
Gap
Coverage
Gap
Coverage
Gap
SuryaPakshi concept
Long-term objective- Launch→
- Solar generation→
- Autonomous loiter→
- Energy storage→
- Night operation→
- Continued mission
- loop to “Solar generation”
Day · solar
Night · stored
Day · solar
Night · stored
Conceptual comparison · not to scale · no performance claim implied
Reading this site
Current work
Engineering work that exists today: hardware on the bench, firmware in development.
Design target
Design and conceptual figures. Not yet demonstrated in flight.
Long-term objective
Where the programme is heading. Objectives, not achievements.
02The idea
Increase efficiency. Harvest the sun. Automate the mission.
SuryaPakshi approaches endurance as an energy problem. Reduce the power needed to stay aloft, collect energy in flight, and progressively remove the human from the loop.
A
Aerodynamic efficiency
A high-aspect-ratio fixed wing makes lift from forward motion, so propulsion only overcomes drag.
B
Solar harvesting
Wing-integrated cells convert the aircraft's largest surface into a power source during daylight.
C
Progressive autonomy
Automating flight and mission tasks reduces the human effort needed to keep an aircraft on station.
Why fixed-wing
Lift is the expensive part.
A fixed wing generates lift aerodynamically as it moves through the air — the motor only has to overcome drag. A multirotor must generate all of its lift with its propellers, continuously, for as long as it stays up.
That difference in cruise power is what makes solar-sustained flight plausible: a solar array can realistically keep pace with tens of watts, not hundreds.
Fixed-wing cruise~60–80 W
Typical multirotor cruise~300–500 W
0 W100 W200 W300 W400 W500 W
Design targetConceptual design figures — not guaranteed specifications.
Fixed wing~60–80 W
Multirotor~300–500 W
03SuryaPakshi
One airframe. Every subsystem designed for endurance.
Scroll to move through the aircraft — from the wing and its solar array to the flight controller, sensors and communications inside.
SP-01The aircraft
01 / 08
01The aircraft
A platform built to stay up.
SuryaPakshi is designed as a persistent aerial platform rather than a short-sortie drone: an efficient wing, a solar-covered upper surface and an avionics stack built for long, low-intervention missions.
Current work
- Architecture
- Solar flying wing
- Current concept span
- 2.5 m
02Airframe
Lift from the wing, not the motor.
A high-aspect-ratio blended wing generates lift aerodynamically, so propulsion only needs to overcome drag. Upturned winglets reduce tip losses. The platform is being developed iteratively and scaled as the design matures.
Current work
- Explored configurations
- 2.5 · 3 · 5 · 7 m
- Winglets
- Upturned, raked
03Solar power
The wing is the power plant.
Flexible monocrystalline cells cover most of the upper wing. In daylight they power flight and avionics while surplus energy charges onboard storage.
Design target
- Cell efficiency
- ~20% target
- Coverage
- Upper wing surface
04Propulsion
Sized for cruise.
A single rear-mounted electric motor drives a two-blade pusher propeller. The system is optimised for efficient, steady cruise — where a persistent aircraft spends almost all of its time.
Design target
05Flight control
A flight controller built in-house.
The flight-control system is developed from the ground up, so every layer — sensing, estimation and control — is understood, measured and tunable.
Current work
- Controller
- Custom
- Firmware
- In-house
06Connectivity
Beyond radio line-of-sight.
LTE connectivity is designed to carry telemetry, imagery and mission updates over cellular networks — enabling long-range operation without depending only on short-range radio links.
Design target
- Downlink
- ~10 Mbps target
- Uplink
- ~5 Mbps target
07Payload
A modular sensor bay.
The nose houses the mission payload. Keeping the payload modular lets the same airframe serve surveillance, mapping or environmental observation.
Long-term objective
08Explore
Take it apart.
The exploded view separates every subsystem. Select a component — in the model or below — to read its engineering notes. Drag to orbit.
Current work
Components
Flight controller
Current workA custom flight controller with in-house firmware, designed around the aircraft rather than adapted from an off-the-shelf autopilot.
- Controller
- Custom, in-house
- Firmware
- Developed from scratch
04Engineering
Engineered as a system, not assembled from parts.
Seven subsystems, each designed around one constraint: energy.
Current work
Airframe
Lightweight flying-wing architecture optimised for endurance.
- Blended flying-wing layout with central equipment pod
- High aspect ratio for low induced drag in cruise
- Upturned, raked winglets reduce tip losses
- 2.5 m current concept; 3, 5 and 7 m configurations explored for scaling
System architecture
From airframe to ground station.
- 01→AirframeStructure, aerodynamics, solar surface
- 02→Flight controllerCustom, in-house
- 03→SensorsInertial · barometric
- 04→Power systemSolar · storage · distribution
- 05→CommunicationsLTE telemetry
- 06→PayloadModular mission sensors
- 07Ground infrastructureMission control · data
Technology stack
Built bottom-up.
Each layer depends on the one beneath it. Airframe and flight control come first; autonomy and intelligence are built on top.
L6
Mission layer
Autonomous missions
L5
Intelligence
Perception · AI · ISR
L4
Communications
LTE · telemetry
L3
Flight control
Custom controller + sensors
L2
Power system
Solar + energy storage
L1
Airframe
High-aspect-ratio wing
05Solar energy
Harvest by day. Fly through the night.
By day the solar array powers the aircraft and charges onboard storage. After sunset, stored energy carries it until the sun returns.
Local time · sim
10:30
Stored energy
Solar surplus — powering systems and charging storage
Energy flow
Design targetNormalised, illustrative energy model for explanation only — not measured or predicted aircraft data.
06Autonomy
Autonomy, earned one level at a time.
Each level rests on a verified level beneath it. Higher levels are development objectives.
TodayFlight-control foundations in development.
L2
Stabilised flight
The flight controller holds attitude using fused IMU and barometric data; the pilot commands intent.
07Mission concept
Mission: persistent border surveillance.
A hypothetical mission, simulated end-to-end: launch, climb, link up, transit, loiter — and keep going through the night on stored solar energy. Step through the phases or let it run.
Simulation · illustrative
01Launch
Hand or rail launch from a forward site.
Local · sim
08:36
DAY
- Mode
- LAUNCH
- Link
- —
- Energy
- CHARGING
08Applications
Where persistence matters. Target applications.
Missions that need continuous observation over large areas — where short-endurance aircraft leave gaps. These are target applications for the platform as it matures, not current deployments.
02Target application
Border monitoring
Long-duration monitoring of remote, sparsely instrumented terrain where ground infrastructure is limited.
03Target application
Disaster response
Sustained situational awareness after floods, earthquakes or cyclones — when ground networks are degraded and conditions change hourly.
04Target application
Infrastructure
Monitoring pipelines, power lines, rail corridors and remote assets that stretch across hundreds of kilometres.
05Target application
Environmental monitoring
Long-duration observation of forests, coastlines, glaciers and agricultural regions over large geographic areas.
09The long-endurance frontier
The physics is proven. The work is in making it practical.
Platforms such as Airbus Zephyr show what solar-powered aircraft can do. SuryaPakshi is built on the same idea — solar energy, aerodynamic efficiency and autonomy — with a focus on making it practical and deployable from India.
Scale · wingspan to scale
Long-term objectiveLarger wings add solar area and efficiency. The 2.5 m concept is a development configuration, with larger spans explored as the design scales. A conceptual comparison — not a claim of parity with operational platforms.
10Roadmap
From bench to persistent platform.
Six development phases. Phase 01 is underway; everything after it is a development objective, sequenced so each phase de-risks the next.
01
Foundation
Current work
- Flight-controller electronics
- Sensor integration
- Firmware
- Bench testing
Phases 02–06 are development objectives, not completed achievements.
11 — Method
Build.
Test.
Fly.
Repeat.
Every subsystem moves through the same loop. Nothing is assumed — it is designed, built, tested on the bench, flown, measured and improved. Progress is what the data shows, not what the slide says.
Build the future of persistent aerial systems.
SuryaPakshi is in active development.