An aerostat is an aircraft that remains aloft through the use of lighter-than-air gases. A narrower and more technical meaning refers only to tethered balloons.
Aerostat may also refer to:
Airships Airships are powered aerostats: Airship, or dirigible, any aerostat that can be manoeuvred through the air using propellers, rudders, etc. Blimp, an airship with no structural framework, using only gas pressure to maintain its shape Rigid airship, uses only a structural framework to maintain its shape Semi-rigid airship, uses a partial structural framework in combination with gas pressure to maintain its shape
Balloons Balloons are unpowered aerostats: Balloon (aircraft) Gas balloon Hot air balloon Vacuum balloon
Tethered The term aerostat is sometimes used to refer specifically to tethered balloons: Barrage balloon Observation balloon
Untethered Espionage balloon Fire balloon
Hybrids Hybrids combine aerostatic buoyancy and aerodynamic lift.
Powered Hybrid airship
Unpowered Kytoon
Other uses Tethered Aerostat Radar System Akashdeep Aerostat RT Aerostats Systems
See also
Aerostatics Balloon Sky lantern