Aerostat anchoring, deployment, extended duration and recovery apparatus

A method to increase a deployment duration of an airship comprising:

• (a) deploying an airship having a lift gas envelope;
• (b) connecting a first end of a tether to the airship, said tether having a second end and at least one gas passage and at least one electrical cable and at least one communications cable;
• (c) providing an earth based air tight anchoring vessel having a rotor with an axial gas passage therethrough and a plurality of connectors disposed around the axial gas passage in the rotor, said air tight anchoring vessel also having a stator with an axial gas passage therethrough and a plurality of connectors disposed around the axial gas passage in the stator;
• and
• (d) connecting an earth based plenum to supply a lift gas through the axial gas passage in the stator and the axial gas passage in the rotor of the air tight anchoring vessel to the airship.

A method to increase the deployed duration of an aerostat comprising:

• (a) deploying an aerostat with a lift gas envelope;
• (b) utilizing a tether having at least two separate gas passages;
• (c) connecting one end of the tether having the at least two separate gas passages to the aerostat;
• (d) connecting the other end of the tether having at least two separate gas passages to an earth based anchoring vessel having a rotor and a stator with an axial gas passage through the rotor and stator and at least one radial gas passage through a detachable chimney attached to the earth based anchoring vessel;
• and
• (e) connecting one of the at least two separate gas passages in the tether to the axial gas passage through the rotor and stator to the earth based anchoring vessel.