Laser-powered helicopter breaks record for longest flight | Business

Video by KOMO Newsradio's Jon Repp.

A laser-powered helicopter flew for more than 12 hours overnight to break the record it set last year.

The unmanned "quadrocopter" - built by Kent-based LaserMotive - is powered solely with laser power beaming.

Tuesday evening's flight inside the Future of Flight Aviation Center at Paine Field marks the longest untethered laser-powered helicopter flight on record.

The company has previously set the world record for longest flight when it flew a tethered remote-controlled helicopter up to six hours at a time for four days.

"The demonstration will mark our first public display of a free-flying unmanned aerial vehicle powered by lasers, and represents an important step forward in the future development of flight," said Tom Nugent, President and Co-founder of LaserMotive in a press release.

LaserMotive also collected $900K in the 2009 NASA-sponsored Space Elevator Games, after its laser-powered robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet of cable dangling from a helicopter.

Thomas Nugent, one of the principals of LaserMotive, said the company believed the contest would demonstrate the concept of "power beaming" - transmitting energy by laser over long distances.

The laser power beaming system used to power the quadrocopter is based on the technology the company developed for the space elevator contest.

LaserMotive has a long-term strategy to develop a full-scale laser power system for unmanned aerial vehicles, which is one of the largest growth sectors in the aerospace and defense industries.