Solar-Powered Skydive From SolarStratos

What’s claimed to be the first ever free-fall and skydive from a from an electric plane occurred yesterday (Australian time). That may be a little ho-hum for the non-skydivers among us, but the plane certainly isn’t.

Powered by solar energy harvested by the plane’s wings and stored in a battery pack, the SolarStratos aircraft took off from the Broyard airfield in Payerne, Switzerland and reached an altitude of 1,520 metres before project founder Raphaël Domjan climbed out onto a wing and then made the jump.

About SolarStratos

We first mentioned SolarStratos back in 2018. It’s two-seater electric plane with a length of 8.5 metres, wingspan of 24 metres and weighs 450 kilograms. The plane’s wings and tail are covered by 22m² of SunPower Maxeon solar cells that charge a 20-kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery system, which powers an electric motor (32 kW/43 hp at 2200 rpm).

The goal of the SolarStratos project is to fly the first manned solar powered plane in the Earth’s stratosphere, which begins 10–13 kilometres above the surface of the planet at mid latitudes.

Disaster Strikes

The journey towards this goal has seen its share of challenges of course, but also some serious mishaps.

Just a couple of weeks after our article in 2018, SolarStratos was damaged during a stress test conducted on the ground. The test performed consisted of gradually increasing the load on the carbon fibre wings in order to simulate an extreme flight situation. Up to that point, the plane had successfully flown 15 test flights.

Finally, Back In The Air

The damage wasn’t a minor setback – it would take another two years before SolarStratos was in the air again. The solar cells were fitted to the new wings and the wings to the craft in May this year, and the first post-damage test flight occurred on July 23. According to Mr. Domjan, the “new” SolarStratos was more stable and reliable than during the first round of test flights.

“Today we are beginning a new chapter that will allow us to reach extraordinary goals, to make the public dream and to convey a positive message on the potential of solar energy to fight climate change,” said Mr. Domjan at the time.

At this point the plan is for SolarStratos to tackle the stratosphere in 2022, when the team hopes the plane will attain an altitude of 20,000 meters.