Solar-powered aircraft reaches new height record, breaking 15-year-old milestone flown by Swiss pilot.
In a groundbreaking achievement for solar-powered aviation, Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan has broken the altitude record for a solar-powered electric plane. On August 12, 2025, Domjan's SolarStratos plane reached an impressive height of 9,521 meters (31,237 feet), surpassing the previous certified record of 9,235 meters (30,298 feet) held by the Solar Impulse plane since 2010.
The record-breaking flight took place from Sion airport in southwest Switzerland, with Domjan's flight lasting five hours and nine minutes. The SolarStratos plane, registration HB-SXA, is made of carbon fibre for lightness and strength, and boasts a wingspan of 24.8 metres to accommodate 22 square metres of high-spec solar panels.
Before take-off, the batteries must be fully charged using solar energy, and the aircraft uses rising warm air currents to climb to around 4,000-5,000 metres. The plane can take off at speeds ranging from 50 kilometres per hour and higher, and has a maximum speed of 140 kph, while its cruising speed is around 80 kph.
The record is pending official validation by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which will review the pressure altitude corrected for standard density altitude, the recognized standard for aviation altitude records. The SolarStratos team aims to surpass 10,000 meters next and eventually reach the stratosphere (starting around 12,000 meters at Swiss latitude) using only solar power.
This record represents a major milestone in solar-powered aviation and a step toward sustainable, decarbonized flight. The SolarStratos project's promoter, Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard, built a second solar aircraft which successfully made a round-the-world trip, in stages, between March 2015 and July 2016.
It is worth noting that the certified altitude record for a solar plane stands at 9,235 metres, set by the Solar Impulse experimental plane in 2010. In a warm-up flight on July 31, Raphael Domjan reached 6,589 metres, and on Sunday, he attempted to break the record, reaching 8,224 metres. However, the first attempt to break the altitude record on Friday was abandoned due to the lack of forecasted thermals.
The SolarStratos plane is 9.6 metres long and is designed to make maximum use of solar energy. If the 10,000-metre barrier is broken, SolarStratos plans to make a first manned solar-powered flight into the stratosphere, which begins at around 12,000 metres at Switzerland's latitude. Upon landing, the plane must land under its own power and have at least 16% charge in the batteries.
This solar-powered flight breakthrough is a significant step forward in the pursuit of sustainable and carbon-neutral aviation. The SolarStratos team's ambition to reach the stratosphere using only solar power is an exciting development that has the potential to revolutionize the aviation industry.
References:
- Solar-Powered Plane Breaks Altitude Record
- SolarStratos Breaks Altitude Record for Solar-Powered Electric Plane
- SolarStratos Aims to Break 10,000-Metre Barrier for Solar-Powered Flight
- SolarStratos: The Solar-Powered Plane That Could Change Aviation
- SolarStratos: The Solar Plane That Could Break the 10,000-Metre Barrier
