Atmospheric Flight on Venus

Pedro Miguel Carvalho de Albuquerque e Sousa

Key information

Authors:

Pedro Miguel Carvalho de Albuquerque e Sousa (Pedro Miguel Carvalho de Albuquerque e Sousa)

Supervisors:

João Manuel Gonçalves de Sousa Oliveira (João Manuel Gonçalves de Sousa Oliveira); Filipe Szolnoky Ramos Pinto Cunha (Filipe Szolnoky Ramos Pinto Cunha)

Published in

November 25, 2025

Abstract

This thesis presents the conceptual design of a solar-powered aircraft for sustained in-situ exploration of Venus’s atmosphere, motivated by the need to better understand its dense and dynamic environment. A preliminary sizing study, based on a validated environmental model, identified a feasible operational band near 67–77 km, which motivated the aerodynamic, propulsion and structural choices. Using OpenAeroStruct a coupled aero-structural optimization was performed in order to obtain a minimum-mass wing-tail configuration, supported by an aerodynamic study on XFLR5 that motivated the choice of the NACA 6412 for the main wing, and NACA 0008 for the tail. Moreover, a V-n envelope tailored for the Venusian flight regime was also built. Propulsion and power analyses produced a low-RPM propeller design (using XROTOR) and an electric motor sizing compatible with the mission power budget; solar arrays integrated on the wing surfaces provide a combined area of 11.17 m2 to meet cruise demands. The end-to-end mission includes GMAT-validated Hohmann transfer analyses, an aeroshell-based EDD sequence, and launcher selection studies confirming Falcon-class compatibility. Results demonstrate the technical feasibility of a long-duration aerial platform for Venus using current or near-term technologies and highlight future work in high-fidelity CFD, mechanism prototyping, and a GNC system development.