Boeing to develop aircraft powered by the sun with a five-year flight plan

We’ve heard of solar powered planes before, like the Zephyr and Aurora. We’ve never heard of one of these staying up in the heavens for a good five years! Yes, you read that right, five years! We had our jaws dropped too, at this development Boeing is currently working on after winning a sweet $89 million contract from the government. The SolarEagle aircraft for the Vulture II program run by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA will be built and hit the skies for the first time by 2014. A five-year flight plan has probably never been heard of before for an unmanned aircraft before, let alone a solar powered one. The SolarEagle will boast a wingspan of 400-feet and during test flights will stay up for almost a month.

Besides this, Boeing also hopes to develop an aircraft, powered by solar energy, that can stay 60,000 to 90,000 feet off the ground with a payload of a good 1,000 pounds. This sure will change the face of the aviation industry for the greener.
[cnet]