China's Large Solar-Powered Drone Completes Its First Flight

China's "QMX50" fully solar-powered large unmanned aerial vehicle has successfully completed its first flight.

The unmanned aerial vehicle named “QMX50”, developed by the First Aircraft Design Institute of China Aviation Industry Corporation, completed its first flight in Yulin city of Sha'anxi province yesterday.

The double-bodied vehicle is the first large fully solar-powered drone, capable of long-range flight at high altitudes.

The “drone” is planned to undertake tasks such as high-altitude reconnaissance, forest fire monitoring, atmospheric environment monitoring, geographic mapping and communication relay.

It was stated that the successful first flight of the drone will lay a solid foundation for the development of large-scale solar-powered drones in the aviation industry, and will further accelerate China's development of critical technologies in areas such as new energies, composite materials and flight control. This development is also expected to increase China's operational capability in near space and far waters.