Alfred Wong of Los Angeles is the latest inventor to propose an alternative
to communication satellites (W0 97/33790). Instead of putting satellites into
orbit, he suggests a fleet of floating airships. A 200-metre craft with a volume
of 400 000 cubic metres could lift a 2-tonne payload 30 kilometres in the sky
and transmit to the whole of Italy.
The craft is kept stationary by a propulsion system similar to a domestic air
ioniser. Solar panels feed a high voltage to electrodes which generate ion
streams to steer the craft to a fixed position for its five-year life.
