Swiss Pilot Raphael Domjan Breaks Solar-Powered Plane Altitude Record
Switzerland: Swiss aviator Raphael Domjan has set a new world benchmark for solar-powered electric flight, soaring to an incredible 9,521 metres in the SolarStratos aircraft. The historic flight took place on Tuesday from Sion Airport in southwestern Switzerland, surpassing the previous certified record of 9,235 metres that had stood for 15 years.
The five-hour and nine-minute journey made use of warm air thermals, with all energy generated exclusively from the plane’s high-efficiency solar panels. The record is now pending official verification from the World Air Sports Federation.
Domjan, a 53-year-old eco-adventurer, expressed his excitement:
“This is the result of years of preparation. My mission is to inspire the younger generation and prove that we can fly without fossil fuels or carbon emissions.”
The SolarStratos is a carbon-fibre aircraft measuring 9.6 metres in length with a wingspan of 24.8 metres. Its wings house 22 square metres of advanced solar panels, enabling take-off speeds as low as 50 kph and a maximum speed of 140 kph.
The ultimate goal for Domjan and his team is to reach 10,000 metres, the cruising altitude of passenger jets, and eventually make the first manned solar-powered flight into the stratosphere at around 12,000 metres.
Domjan, who in 2012 became the first person to sail around the world in a fully solar-powered boat, hopes this achievement will promote clean energy innovations and inspire a sustainable future.
The current record was previously held by the Solar Impulse experimental plane, piloted by Andre Borschberg in 2010 — a project led by Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard, who later completed a solar-powered flight around the world between 2015 and 2016.
