Tethered aerostat envelope design and applications: A review

The Aerostats are lighter-than-air (LTA) systems that are used to carry important payloads at specified altitudes. Tethered aerostats are connected to the ground via a tether that maintains the position and provides power. Aerostats have to operate in various atmospheric conditions depending on their mission. This paper presents a literature review on the different envelope shapes of the tethered aerostats. Aerostat envelope contains the LTA gas that provides the lift force to carry the payload in the air. This research paper presents a comprehensive literature review on the different shapes of aerostat envelopes. The review has been presented to highlight the design process of the different aerostat envelope shapes that includes sizing, aerodynamics and stability. In addition to the design factors, this paper also presents a review on the applications of different aerostat envelope shapes. Information related to the different design parameters and limitations of aerostat envelopes is also provided.