Solar-powered aircraft's height threshold surpassed by Swiss aviator
Solar-Powered Plane Breaks Altitude Record
Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan has made history by soaring to a record-breaking altitude of 9,521 meters (31,237 feet) aboard the SolarStratos plane. This feat surpasses the previous record set in 2010 by Andre Borschberg in the Solar Impulse plane.
The record-breaking flight took place on Tuesday from Sion airport in southwest Switzerland. Domjan's journey lasted for five hours and nine minutes, during which he reached this altitude using only solar power. The flight also saw the SolarStratos plane cross paths with a commercial airliner at cruising height.
The SolarStratos plane, registration HB-SXA, is made of carbon fibre for lightness and strength. Before take-off, the batteries must be fully charged using solar energy, and the plane has to land under its own power and have at least 16 percent charge in the batteries.
The plane can take off at speeds as low as 50 kilometres per hour and has a maximum speed of 140 kph and a cruising speed of around 80 kph. To climb to around 4,000 to 5,000 metres during record attempts, the aircraft must make maximum use of rising warm air currents.
Raphael Domjan, a pioneer in solar-powered travel, is no stranger to breaking records. In 2012, he sailed around the world in a solar-powered boat. His dream is to show that a better world tomorrow is possible without emitting carbon dioxide.
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. The data from the record-breaking flight will be sent to the World Air Sports Federation for validation.
The SolarStratos team aims to capture imaginations and promote solar energy and the protection of the biosphere and planet. Domjan wants to demonstrate the potential of solar energy and show that flying without burning fossil fuels is possible.
The SolarStratos plane is 9.6 metres long and has a wingspan of 24.8 metres to accommodate 22 square metres of high-spec solar panels. The current record for a solar-powered plane was set in 2010 by the Solar Impulse experimental plane with Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg at the controls.
The SolarStratos team's goal is to take a solar-powered plane above 10,000 metres, potentially making the first manned solar-powered flight into the stratosphere. The team's previous attempt to break the record on Friday was abandoned due to the lack of forecasted thermals. However, a warm-up flight on July 31 reached 6,589 metres, surpassing the plane's previous best in 2024.
In a second attempt on Sunday, the SolarStratos plane successfully reached 8,224 metres. Although this was not enough to break the record, it was a significant step towards the team's ultimate goal.
References: 1. BBC News 2. CNN 3. The Guardian 4. New York Times 5. NASA
