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Airbus delays UK Zephyr HAPS flight tests

7th August 2020 - 17:15 GMT | by Tim Martin in London

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COVID-19 restrictions have forced Airbus Defence and Space to postpone Zephyr High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) Operational Concept Demonstrator (OCD) flight trials, which were originally scheduled for summer 2020.

The cause of delay, for the UK MoD sponsored flight tests, was confirmed on 4 August by Baroness Annabel Goldie in a written parliamentary exchange. She also revealed that Airbus Defence and Space have ‘implemented improvements’ to the system at a manufacturing level, following findings shared with them by investigators reviewing ‘unfortunate incidents’.

Airbus is currently planning to restart flights but a firm date to do so has not yet been set, according to the

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Tim Martin

Tim Martin is Air Editor for Shephard Media, based in Belfast.

Tim has experience writing …

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