The SolarStratos team is in the final stretch ahead of the official presentation of its solar aircraft to the world. November has arrived, and this is the month when the Roll Out will take place. The event will take place on December 7, in the SolarStratos base on the Payerne airfield. By then the aircraft must be ready and the base built and decorated in order to welcome all guests and media.
The construction of the base began on September 29 by installing large concrete blocs as ballast. Then all just happened at unbelievable speed in less than a month and now the building that will host the first two-seater solar airplane in the world is well out of the ground! It remains only to be decorated before the aircraft is delivered.
Concerning the solar bird, its construction is also nearing completion. It is adorned with a beautiful white paint, which aims to ensure protection and optimum lightweightness while having a modern look. The wings are now closed and they have gone through vibration, stress and heat tests. They are currently with our partner CSEM for the installation of the photovoltaic cells. Meanwhile, the fuselage is also being finalized. Electronic tests are successful (for the engineers who read us, imagine that there are nearly 100 A which pass through 24 wires in a carbon tube of only 2 cm in diameter!); it’s time to fill the fuselage with electronics and wiring, engine, batteries, propeller, cockpit instruments, seats … Once everything is finished, the plane will be transported in a trailer to Payerne where the final assembly will be done!
Raphael and his team are on track to achieve the first major step in the writing of the SolarStratos eco-adventure. Soon, the helio-stratospheric aircraft will not only be a synthetic image, but a real airplane! We look forward December 7, and to share this historic moment!
Thank you for your support! See you soon !
Raphael and the SolarStratos team
Raphaël Domjan and the SolarStratos team are bringing their stratospheric project to life with the commencement of construction on their hangar at the Payerne airport Aeropole site in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. This operational base for SolarStratos will house the first solar stratospheric plane. The Canton of Vaud, the city of Payerne and the Broye region are also on board in this venture and providing support for the implementation of the SolarStratos project at the Aeropole.
Within a week period, SolarStratos could get in the skin of an astronaut and of a solar-stratonaute! So many emotions in so few days!
SolarStratos in astronaut mode
The first memorable experience of the SolarStratos Club was held from August 25 to 27th in Bordeaux, France. The SolarNavigators joined Raphael’s team to live the first weightless trip of the Club, thanks to a partnership with Novespace, the company of the SolarStratos‘ patron, the French astronaut Jean-François Clervoy. Raphael, Roland Loos (new CEO of SolarStratos) and four Club members had the chance to experience a unique adventure aboard an A310 specially equipped for parabolic flights. The SolarStratos team was able to experiment 15 parabolas: one Martian, two lunar and 12 in total weightlessness (or Zero-G). An unforgettable moment of life for all! Beyond the pure joy of moving as Neil Armstrong or Claude Nicollier, Raphael was able to test medical equipment on behalf of our partner CSEM, under the supervision of Dr. Patrick Schoettker, professor at the University of Lausanne, chief doctor of anesthesiology at CHUV (Lausanne, Switzerland) and doctor of the SolarStratos mission.
We look froward for the next Zero-G experience in 2017! Perhaps will you also be part of it? Join our Club!
Inauguration of the simulator at Numerik Games festival
Barely a week after back down on land following the Zero-G experience, Raphael and his team inaugurated their 3-axis simulator at the 1st edition of the Numerik Games festival in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland. On September 2, before a crowd of guests, journalists and bystanders, Raphael presented in world premiere this piece of technology that now allows him to train to fly at very high altitudes. This simulator is unique worldwide and was built thanks to our Partners PC-Aero, DLR and Carbon Wacker. Reserved for the pilots of the mission (Raphael and Thierry Plojoux), the cockpit of the simulator will also accommodate some SolarStratos Club members (from the SolarPilot level). Having fun while supporting our eco-expedition, that’s also part of being a Club member!
A year to end in a blaze of glory
The end of the year should be stratospheric! Raphael and his team hope to showcase the aircraft by the end of the year. So keep on following us to live this presentation that will have a global impact! And thank you again to everyone for your support!
That’s it! The 3 axes simulator of SolarStratos was unveiled to the public during the first day of the Numerik Games Festival in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, with a demonstration of Raphaël Domjan.
Digital art takes centre stage at the FestivalNumerik Games in Yverdon-les-Bains (from 2 to 4 September 2016). SolarStratos will be there to show for the first time in the world its 3-axis simulator, which will be used as a flight training tool for solar pilots! Usually reserved for the latter, the simulator will exceptionally open its cockpit to three lucky people during a competition! That’s right! 3 flight simulations are to be won during the Numerik Games! To participate, just “like” our Facebook page and leave a nice comment underneath this publication. The winners of the competition will be tagged as soon as the results are in, i.e. Friday 2 September at noon. Good luck!
Stratospheric news ! He is the keyboardist of the Rolling Stones. He played with David Gilmour, Eric Clapton and Goerge Harrison. He is co-founder of The Mother Nature Network (www.mnn.com), which is the most visited independent environmental site in the world.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to annouce Mr. Chuck Leavell as our new Patron! Welcome onboard, Chuck, and thanks for your support !
Notre pays, la Suisse, a de quoi être fière ! Les deux tours du monde effectués à l’énergie solaire sont Swiss Made ! Félicitations à Bertrand Piccard, André Borschberg et à toute l’équipe de Solar Impulse !
#SolarStratos inside Paris Match! Let’s get it and read the interview of Raphaël Domjan!
Welcome behind the scenes of SolarStratos! Follow the work and highlights of the team and Raphaël Domjan via our StratosTime, a short video made by Stéphane, our producer and director!
This summer we are taking you to Moscow, to our partner Zvezda. Raphaël and Roland went there to test the spacesuit Sokol (“Falcon” in Russian), which our eco-explorer will wear when reaching the stratosphere. Safety tests of the suit’s Life Support System have been carried out. Technical tests of the emergency system (enabling injecting a minimum of oxygen into the spacesuit, while at the same time maintaining closed-circuit circulation) were also carried out and everything went extremely well. Other adjustments are currently being made and Raphaël will be able conduct the next tests in the fall. You can follow of all this in pictures!
Summer has been playing hard to get. Now that it’s finally here, we hope you can take full advantage of it to have fun and relax. We’ll catch up with you again soon so you can find out about the newest advancements and developments of SolarStratos.
Have a great summer and thank you for your enthusiasm.
The postcard that Bertrand Piccard is holding has “solarly” crossed the #Atlantic twice: once westwards with PlanetSolar and once eastwards, recently, with Solar Impulse! Thanks and congrats again, dear solar friends!
