Insitu http://www.insitu.com/ , whose unmanned aircraft are used in military and homeland security operations, has scored $25 million in venture funding that it will use to launch a new aircraft next year called the Integrator.
The 125-pound aircraft -- unlike the company's lighter, four-year-old ScanEagle -- includes a payload bay for carrying up to 45 pounds of scientific or communications equipment, said Chief Executive Steve Sliwa. For example, communications equipment could be placed in the payload bay during a natural disaster to create what Sliwa calls a "cell phone tower in the sky" for 24 hours.
By JOHN COOK P-I REPORTER
Full Story: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/342805_insitu08.html