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.
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