Kitewall

Kitemill builds airborne wind energy systems. The flying part is an uncrewed aircraft of 7.5 m wingspan that takes off and lands vertically under its own rotors, then flies crosswind on a tether. The pull on that tether drives a generator in the ground station. The system works as a pumping cycle: it generates while the tether reels out under load, then flies back depowered and repeats.

Two things follow. There is no tower and no foundation, so a site that cannot take a crane, a heavy foundation or a permanent structure can still take a machine. And because the aircraft carries its own power and control on board and recovers vertically, a small crew can set it up and take it down rather than a construction team. The aircraft can launch and stay airborne in wind too light to turn a conventional rotor, and reaches net-positive output in the 5 to 7 m/s range.

The same tethered VTOL platform underpins Kitemill's persistent surveillance work, where the aircraft holds a sensor payload aloft far longer than a free-flying drone can sustain.

On stand U452, under the Keynote Theatre, the aircraft is displayed horizontally at waist height, so you can walk the full 7.5 m wingspan and look closely at the carbon structure, the VTOL rotors, the control surfaces and the tether attachment. Come and talk to us about tethered endurance, runway-free launch and recovery, and power at sites off the grid.