Company developing a solar-powered drone

Craft would be capable of staying airborne for a week, developer says

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the nation's largest missile-maker, is developing a solar-powered unmanned aircraft capable of staying in the sky for a week.

The drone, which has yet to be named, will look much like a conventional fixed-wing plane and will be propelled by an electric motor and solar batteries. It will be able to operate for a week at an altitude of more than 20,000 meters, Ma Hongzhong, director of CASIC's Unmanned Aircraft Institute, said in an interview on Thursday.