MPS partner of SolarStratos

Après avoir réalisé le premier tour du monde grâce à l’énergie solaire à bord du catamaran PlanetSolar, l’éco-explorateur neuchâtelois Raphael Domjan souhaite partir à la découverte de nouveaux territoires et repousser ses limites, ainsi que celles de la connaissance, en volant dans la stratosphère à l’aide d’un avion solaire.

This new expedition, entitled Mission SolarStratos: to the Edge of Space, aims to promote renewable energies by demonstrating that concepts and projects that seemed inconceivable five years ago are now possible thanks to the technologies now available, even though they are only in their infancy, notably in the area of solar-electric aviation.

The SolarStratos mission intends to show that these current technologies make it possible to achieve feats outstripping the potential of fossil fuels: electric and solar-powered vehicles are one of the great 21st century challenges.

The SolarStratos will not be pressurised, which means the pilot will have to wear a pressurised astronaut’s suit operating exclusively by solar power and representing a world first. The challenge will thus be human as well as technical. The mission will last six hours: three hours to ascend into space, 15 minutes up among the stars, and then three hours to descend. Both aircraft and pilot will be subjected to temperature of around -70 °C.

To date, no plane has ever flown at such an altitude which is normally reserved for rockets. With a 24.8m wingspan and a weight of 450 kg, this two-seater is equipped with a propulsion system composed of an electric engine (maximum 2x16 KW) and a four-blade 2.2m propeller. It is 100% solar-powered.

October 18, 2018