🕊️ Icarus aims to conquer the stratosphere with autonomous “birds”

From Y Combinator’s latest batch comes Icarus, a rare non-AI startup developing autonomous drones designed to cruise the stratosphere. The idea: build long-endurance, solar-powered “birds” that can film, relay communications, and operate above weather systems for extended periods.

🔸 Founder Henry Kwan shared a 27-slide pitch deck, notably light on numbers but heavy on conviction, citing his 10,000+ hours in aerospace R&D as proof of execution capacity.
🔸 The concept echoes past attempts by Google (Project Loon) and Facebook’s Aquila, both of which failed to make stratospheric flight commercially viable.
🔸 Icarus claims advances in lightweight materials, autonomy, and solar efficiency now make persistent flight feasible, though technical details remain undisclosed.
🔸 The company’s vision blends aerial connectivity, high-altitude imaging, and atmospheric data, potentially creating a new layer between satellites and drones.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Stratolink, founded by Nicholas Oxman, is pursuing a similar goal, a small solar aircraft capable of flying up to 40 days autonomously. The firm announced a ₽1.7B raise and a ₽3.4B valuation, though its prototype and facilities remain largely unverified.

Stratospheric autonomy sits at the intersection of aerospace and infrastructure and may become the next race between frontier engineers and gravity itself.

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⚡️Глава Звездного городка Евгений Баришевский подозревается в получении крупной взятки.

Подробности его дела неизвестны.