Abstract: A novel, high-altitude, solar powered aircraft, capable of staying aloft at high altitudes for many months or even years to conduct around the clock surveillance and/or reconnaisance, includes a forward wing with solar energy capturing cells, a rear wing, inflated pontoons for keeping the aircraft aloft, suspension wires attached to the pontoons, a gondola suspended from and connected to the wires, control apparatus for moving the gondola along the wires, shifting the weight of the aircraft and thereby enabling banking to optimize exposure of the solar cells to the rays of the sun. The gondola preferably contains a sensor suite, power generating and storage apparatus, and synthetic aperture radar imaging apparatus.