AirHold
Boulder, CO // Flight Ops Live
Every AirHold tether system ships with the regulatory paperwork your compliance team needs — FAA Part 107 and CE/RED dual certification, NATO supplier code, AS9100-grade manufacturing, and 11 issued U.S. patents on tether management and high-altitude power transmission. Procurement-grade documentation for the operator who can't afford a sales call.
FIG. 04.1 — CERTIFIED INTEGRATION REFERENCE
Each entry below is formatted like a compliance datasheet — issuing authority, scope, certificate reference, and the airframes it applies to. Officers can cross-check the issuing registry without contacting our sales team.
Our IP portfolio reflects a decade of iterative field work — every claim traces back to a documented failure mode observed during tethered flight in extreme conditions.
A family of three claims covering the closed-loop ATC mechanism that compensates for crosswinds up to 45 mph. The reel adjusts payout speed and braking torque based on real-time airframe load sensing.
Three claims covering the ultra-lightweight composite conductor architecture developed in partnership with TE Connectivity — engineered for minimal voltage drop across tether lengths up to 300m.
Three claims covering the locking connector system that allows operators to replace a damaged tether section in under 8 minutes without breaking the airframe-to-ground power circuit.
Two claims covering the active thermal envelope that keeps the modular 1.5kW–22kW ground station within operating spec across -40°C to +70°C ambient conditions.
In 2023, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International selected AirHold for the XCELLENCE Award in Technology Innovation — reviewed against the field's full commercial UAS cohort, not a curated shortlist. The judging panel cited the Active Tension Control reel and the field-swappable tether termination as the engineering artifacts that materially advanced the tethered UAS category.
Aviation Week & Space Technology listed AirHold among its "Top 10 Drone Companies to Watch" in 2022 — recognition that arrived during the same fiscal year we reported 312% year-over-year revenue growth and the #142 ranking on the Inc. 5000. Independent industry coverage, sequential financial milestones, and a regulatory posture that satisfies procurement officers in 41 countries — the documentation is consistent because the underlying record is consistent.
"AirHold has done more engineering work on the tether itself than most of the airframe industry combined. The certifications are downstream of that work, not a substitute for it."
Send your compliance team our documentation packet — FAA Part 107 reference file, CE/RED test report, NATO supplier code, and the full patent docket — then schedule a tethered flight demo where an AirHold engineer brings the ground station to your site for an endurance and integration test against your operational profile.