(KRON) -- A large white airship flew over San Francisco Tuesday morning. The helium airship, named "Pathfinder 1," was built by LTA Research, a Silicon Valley aviation startup. LTA Research said the 400-foot-long airship is the company's proof-of-concept prototype for demonstrating "lighter-than-ai r" technology. The aviation company wrote, "Pathfinder 1 is the first step in bringing back large-scale lighter-than-air flight. It was built to validate a modern take on the historic rigid airship design. Pathfinder 1 is generating the data LTA needs to determine what we build next." In the future, the company hopes to use its technology to transport passengers and cargo. (Photo: LTA Research) LTA Research, co-founded by Google executive Sergey Brin, has been conducting test flights from Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View to the San Francisco Bay periodically since May 2025. ...read more read less