| Item | Stratospheric airship | Traditional airship | Zhiyuan-1 | Tianzhou-1 |
| Temperature | −60 - +120 | normal | normal | normal |
| Atmosphere pressure | 1/15 - 1 atm | normal | normal | normal |
| Ozone environment | high concentration | no | no | no |
| Ion environment | yes | no | no | no |
| Ultraviolet environment | strong | weak | weak | weak |
| Flight duration | long time > 24 h | <8 h | <4 h | <4 h |
| Wind speed | depend on probability and statistics of the wind | constant | constant | constant |
| Drag coefficient | <0.03 or less | >0.03 | 0.0283 | 0.04 |
| Thrust-mass ratio | little | large | little | little |
| Structure type | non-rigid (rigid partly) | no-rigid/ rigid | non-rigid | non-rigid |
| Material and structure of the hull | high strength/ large deformation | low strength/small deformation | low strength/small deformation | low strength/small deformation |
| Ballonet | subdivision | no/fixed | Fixed | fixed |
| Fin coefficient | about 0.13 | 0.13 - 0.188 | 0.13 | 0.15 |
| Difference of pressure/buoyancy | active control | passive control | active control | passive control |
| Buoyancy compensatory | yes | no | no | no |
| Control mode | remote autonomous | remote/manual | autonomous | autonomous |
| Main energy | solar cell + RFC | fuel/battery | fuel cell + Li battery | Li battery |
| Propeller | high/low density | high density | high density | high density |
| Gondola type | external/build-in | external | external | build-in |