UAS Advanced Development:
Centurion

Larger and more robust than the Pathfinder predecessors, Centurion incorporated many of the enabling technologies for an updated HALE UAV, able to perform atmospheric satellite missions. A quarter scale model was used to verify design predictions before advancing to fabrication of the full-scale UAV. Designed to be able to carry up to 600 pounds of payloads to approximately 80,000 feet, the 206 feet span Centurion was prepared as a test vehicle for a series of low altitude tests at NASA Dryden in the fall of 1998. Energy storage was limited to battery power and no solar array was yet fitted at this stage of development.