--- title: "Google Cofounder’s Airship Cleared for Flight" description: "The FAA has cleared Google cofounder Sergey Brin's 400-foot airship, dubbed the Pathfinder 1, for test flights in California." date: "2023-10-29" modified: "2023-10-29" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-cofounder-airship-cleared-flight" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Google" tags: - "air travel" - "airship" - "sergey brin" - "the digest" --- # Google Cofounder’s Airship Cleared for Flight ![The FAA has cleared Google cofounder Sergey Brin's 400-foot airship, dubbed the Pathfinder 1, for test flights in California.]() *\Image: LTA Research\* ## Government Thumbs Up Yet another tech billionaire is taking to the skies — although this one isn't planning on venturing beyond the Earth's atmosphere. As [*IEEE Spectrum* reports](), the Federal Aviation Administration has officially cleared Google cofounder Sergey Brin's roughly 400-foot airship, dubbed the [Pathfinder 1](), for takeoff. The FAA flight permissions were reportedly granted last month and allow for the massive, 400-foot aircraft to fly at a height of up to about 1,500 feet. And if you happen to be in San Francisc0, look out: according to *IEEE*, the structure is allowed to fly over the south side of the San Fransisco Bay, where it won't interfere with any planes "flying into or out of San Jose and San Francisco International commercial airports." It's a massive step forward for the humanitarian moonshot project, which [aims]() for its airship to be an incredibly light and efficient means of delivering large amounts of cargo and relief workers to difficult-to-get-to disaster zones. ## Lighter Than Air Designed and built by the Brin-cofounded startup LTA or "Lighter Than Air," Research, the Pathfinder 1 would be the largest aircraft to take flight since the doomed Hindenberg disaster in 1937, per *IEEE*. The construction of the proof-of-concept aircraft is pretty fascinating. The next-generation blimp is equipped with 12 electric motors and four rudders. Its circular frame is built with lightweight materials like carbon fibers and titanium. That makes it light enough to fly using only non-flammable helium, as opposed to explosive hydrogen. In its appeal to the FAA, the startup wrote in a letter that "Pathfinder 1's experimental flight test program is to demonstrate and establish the flight envelope for the airship," adding that its anticipated test plan "is tailored to include substantial indoor and outdoor ground testing, using a build-up approach to gradually increase the flight envelope." Once the airship's California test flights are complete, *IEEE* reports the Pathfinder 1 is due to make its way to the Goodyear Airdock hangar located in Akron, Ohio, where an even larger, nearly 600-foot airship is already in the works. It's an exciting vision of the future of transportation: not only is it potentially more efficient than [emissions-heavy conventional cargo planes](), but it also looks cool as hell. Fingers crossed that the Pathfinder 1 passes its upcoming trials with flying colors. **More on billionaire sky activities:** [*Paleontologists Furious When Ancient Human Fossils Blasted to Space*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()