Berlin/Brand - CargoLifter AG has entered a new chapter in the history of its "Lighter-than-Air" technology: the CL 75 AC has been taken out of the hangar for the first time. On the morning of October 12, 2001, at about 7:30, the 61-meter-diameter balloon - floating at a height of about 15 meters - was pulled by mobile cranes for one kilometer to the neighboring airfield where it was anchored.Completion of the first "flying crane" scheduled for end of 2003 Berlin/Brand - CargoLifter AG has reached another milestone in the realization of its key technology. The finance minister of the State of Brandenburg, Dr. Wolfgang Fürniß officially kicked off production of the logistics company's unique "Lighter-than-Air" aircraft.
CargoLifter AG, based in Berlin, is developing a 260-meter-long, 65-meter-wide airship for the transport of oversized and heavy goods weighing up to 160 metric tons: the CargoLifter CL 160. This "flying crane" will be able to carry expensive heavy transports faster, more simply and more cost effectively without ever touching the ground while remaining almost entirely independent from the local infrastructure. In a second product-line, which will be ready before the CL 160, the CargoLifter CL 75 AirCrane transportation balloon with a diameter of 61 meters will be able to carry loads of up to 75 tons. The CL 160 will be able to carry payloads with a volume of 3,200 Cbm (50m x 8m x8m) and weighing up to 160 metric tons, over a maximum distance of 10,000 kilometers. The key advantage of an airship in the CargoLifter transport system will be its ability to operate as a flying crane while floating in midair. The CL 160 won't have to land to load and unload freight, but will exchange its cargo from an altitude of about 100 meters. For the first time, the transportation of such large goods will be possible without a well-developed infrastructure on the ground.

There are three types of airship. First, there are rigid airships, of which the Zeppelin was the most famous example. Rigid airships are built around a rigid internal skeleton. The lifting gas is contained in a series of gas bags. This type of construction is well-suited for carrying payloads within the airship, but brings with it a relatively high structural weight.

Currently, the CargoLifter company employs 469 people, about 255 of which are working on airship development at the dock in Briesen-Brand, near Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. At the moment, Brand is the company's pivotal location. 107 meters high, 210 meters wide and 360 meters long, it is the world's largest free-standing hangar.