AirStrato is a solar powered medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicle currently in development at ARCA. There are currently two variants available, AirStrato Explorer with a flight ceiling of 18,000 m and AirStrato Pioneer with a flight ceiling of 8000 m. It can cary a 45 kg payload consisting of surveillance equipment, scientific instruments or additional battery pods for extended autonomy. The first prototype maiden flight took place on February 28, 2014. It was equipped with a fixed landing gear. Two more prototypes were constructed that lacked a landing gear. Instead ARCA opted for a pneumatic catapult as a launcher and landing skids and a recovery parachute for landing. Both prototypes performed take-off and landing testing and low altitude flights.