A US company developing a hydrogen-powered airship recently secured a new patent which it says "addresses autonomous and remotely piloted operation" for its design. H2 Clipper was granted the US Patent and Trademark Office Patent 11,396,356 B2, entitled 'Method and Apparatus for Lighter-Than-Air Airship with Improved Structure and Delivery System'. A statement from the company explained: "In the new patent, the airship's exoskeleton connects to a nose cone that includes a cockpit cabin for controlling the airship's operation from a single location that can be physically separated from the exoskeleton in the remote event of a catastrophic incident and for autonomous and/or remotely piloted operation." It added: "An improved means is also provided for landing and unloading cargo and, through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, the airship is specially designed to efficiently pick up, transport, deliver and effect the return of payloads from a remote point of origin to where such payloads are desired." H2 Clipper says its design "has particular utility for picking up and transporting goods manufactured in remote locations to areas of high density".
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