Bloodhound towers ready for land speed attempt

The towers that will beam video and data from the car to the outside world have been completed at Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape. The four masts in the desert will be vital to the project’s success.

When the team attempts in 2015 and 2016 to break the existing land speed record of 1 227.93 km/h and then push on to an unprecedented 1 600 km/h, the world will be watching.

Video and data will be streamed live and shared with audiences in 220 countries, supporting what will become one of the biggest news stories on the planet.

“Getting live data and images at supersonic speeds off the car is not only extremely tricky, it is pivotal to our ambitions,” said Conor La Grue, the commercial and product sponsorship leader of the Bloodhound SSC project.

“From the beginning we have shared our story as we have gone along,” La Grue said.

“It is fundamental to our education goal, and if we can’t show what we’re doing in the desert, and involve our global audience

in the adventure, then we will have failed – no matter how fast we go.”

It is hoped to have at least three live video channels with live data coming off the car.

Each will provide 3,5 Mbit (megabit) per second (3 500 000 bits per second) of data – enough to ensure that audiences can watch a high-definition movie on YouTube without it buffering.

A detailed analysis of the Hakskeenpan area was done before MTN SA’s construction teams could start work on the base station, and three other towers at specific places on Hakskeenpan. These all align to ensure the eventual successful backhaul or transfer of data via microwave signalling to Upington.

From there Bloodhound data can link into the national fibre optic based network and be distributed worldwide.

The system will be put through its paces in the coming months. It will culminate in a trial with a mock-up section of the Bloodhound supersonic car tail fin, with the antenna attached, and the actual on-board car electronics to measure actual performance.