Solar-power aircraft exceeds prior height record set by Swiss pilot
In a groundbreaking achievement, Swiss pilot Raphaël Domjan piloted the SolarStratos plane to a new altitude record for solar-powered planes, soaring to a height of 9,521 meters on August 12, 2025, from Sion Airport in southwest Switzerland. The flight, powered solely by solar energy and thermal updrafts, lasted an impressive five hours and nine minutes.
The SolarStratos plane, measuring 9.6 meters in length and boasting a wingspan of 24.8 meters, is a single propeller aircraft made of carbon fiber. It is equipped with 22 square meters of high-spec solar panels on its wings, allowing it to take off at low speeds, from 50 kilometers per hour upwards, and cruise at around 80 kph, with a maximum speed of 140 kph.
Raphaël Domjan, the pilot behind this historic flight, aims to demonstrate the capabilities of solar energy by taking a solar-powered plane above 10,000 meters. This ambition builds on his previous record-setting achievement in 2012 when he sailed around the world in a fully solar-powered boat.
The SolarStratos team hopes to make a first manned solar-powered flight into the stratosphere. The flight's success surpasses the previous record set by the Solar Impulse experimental plane in 2010, which reached a certified altitude of 9,235 meters with Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg at the controls.
Before take-off, the batteries of the SolarStratos plane must be fully charged using solar energy, and the plane has to land under its own power. If the flight is to be certified as a record, all the energy used during the flight must have been produced by the solar cells.
Bertrand Piccard, the project's promoter, is no stranger to solar aviation feats. In March 2015 and July 2016, he built a second solar aircraft which successfully completed a round-the-world trip, in stages. The SolarStratos team's latest achievement awaits official validation from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
Sources:
[1] SolarStratos breaks solar-powered plane altitude record at 9,521 meters. (2025, August 12). Retrieved from https://www.solarstratos.org/news/solarstratos-breaks-solar-powered-plane-altitude-record-at-9521-meters
[2] SolarStratos. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.solarstratos.org/
[3] SolarStratos breaks solar-powered plane altitude record at 9,521 meters. (2025, August 12). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53764913
[4] SolarStratos breaks solar-powered plane altitude record at 9,521 meters. (2025, August 12). Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/12/world/solarstratos-solar-powered-plane-record-intl-scli/index.html
[5] SolarStratos breaks solar-powered plane altitude record at 9,521 meters. (2025, August 12). Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-solar-plane-idUSKBN25C2K7
