The TAO Group®
is a trademark for the independent companies TAO Trans Atmospheric Operations GmbH, of TAO Technologies GmbH in Stuttgart and Berlin, TAO UK and cooperating companies with various partners.
All companies of the TAO-Group are legally independant entities with varying shareholders, but cooperating in the various fields described under projects.
TAO designs, develops and produces lighter than air vehicles in the fields of air and space technologies. Its core competence lies in the implementation of super light structured vehicles as airships or high altitude platforms conceived to fly in the stratosphere. This also includes peripheral technologies as new propulsion and energy storage systems allowing flying at very high altitudes. On the same line TAO has been conceiving regenerative Clean-Tech conceptions for new ways of energy management in the cities of the future.
It is evident that TAO’s lighter than air technologies may also be applied in modern architecture. In cooperation with renowned architects revolutionary looking new constructions have been conceived and implemented.
Our core compentencies are:
- High altitude platforms (HAP´s) in a special TAO-Design with new, regenerative propulsion and an innovative energy storage
- electricmobiles on basis of extreme light weight constructions and special propulsions, which are developed from the innovations and the experiences of the TAO-HAP
- new architectural projects like huge stadiums, halls and inflatable halls
- energetic building concepts with new solar energy storage
The TAO Group High Altitde Platform "SkyDragon" in flight at a flight field in Germany
Since 1999 the independent TAO companies design and develop different high altitude platforms for telecommunication in the stratosphere for the trademark "TAO Group". More than 150 prototypes of the serie SkyDragon in various sizes and materials have been built and tested in test flights. Based on the team knowhow of the designed, built and tested first solar airship of the world "Lotte" the SkyDragons have a solar-electric propulsion or specific combustion engines.
Worldwide popular is the idea of data transfer out of the stratosphere since at least Google started their project "Loon". Thats great! Because our company founder Prof. Dr. Bernd Kröplin got for his idea of the "high altitude platform for telecommunication in the stratosphere" the highly remunerated European Körber-Award over 15 years ago - and at that time everyone thought we are "telecommunication-airship-exotes". Over centuries we continued our project with strong ideally and extreme good know how until today, from the university to the spin-off company named TAO. We are an interdisciplinary team of physicists, aerospace engineers, chemists, electrical and communications engineers, mechanics, account staff and philosophers under the leadership of an open minded professor. Call us "TAO-Nauten"!
In difference to the Google Loon Project, which uses uncontrolled ballons, the TAO SkyDragon has for example the following features:
- able to start and land with own telemetry-
- stearable with own propulsion system-
- stationary flight above one specific point-
- great telecommunication radius-
- recyclable and reusable-
The special TAO SkyDragon enables to fly in high altitudes, in the stratosphere and a defined landing and safe rescue. Meanwhile interested parties from all over the world recognize the value of our friendly and peaceful technology. For more informations look here: SkyDragon.
Our bet is on the future!
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Top-News
What is a high altitude platform (HAP) or a pseudo satellite? Where and how high does the TAO high altitude platform SkyDragon fly? What does its mission look like, what are its tasks? Is it ready for take-off and landing? Some answers can be found directly in our new TAO film/explanatory video about the stratosphere. Would you like to know more? Please feel free to write to us!
TAO-Group is a global HAP-Keyplayer
2019.3.2: TAO Group is one of the worldwide leading companies for research and development of high altitude platforms (HAP´s) for telecommunication and data transfer. Some of the key players in the Global High-Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS) market are Airbus, Alphabet, Facebook, Lockheed Martin, RosAeroSystems, Thales and we. TAO Group has not the financial resources as the global keyplayers, but a very clever engineering team, a richness of ideas and a rapid prototyping. The worldwide study HIGH-ALTITUDE PSEUDO SATELLITES (HAPS) MARKET - GLOBAL TRENDS, FORECAST, AND OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT (2017-2023) was published in March 2019 and compares the worldwide stratospheric concepts like High Altitude UAVS, Airships und Stratospheric Balloons. The TAO SkyDragon concept of a HAP is worldwide unique.
