Swiss adventurer Raphael Domjan poses with the solar-powered plane SolarStratos and flight suit at the airbase in Payerne, Switzerland on December 7, 2016.
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What’s it like to fly in the icy stratosphere, 25,000 metres above Earth? Swiss eco-adventurer Raphael Domjan hopes to find out soon aboard the SolarStratos plane.
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Born in London, Simon is a multimedia journalist who has worked for www.swissinfo.ch since 2006. He speaks French, German and Spanish and focuses on science, technology and innovation issues.
On Friday, his experimental stratospheric solar plane successfully completed its first test flight in Payerne in western Switzerland.
Test flights are set to continue over the coming weeks and months, slowly venturing up to higher altitudes. By the end of next year, the Swiss adventurer and project leader hopes to fly the solar plane up into the stratosphere to 25,000 m above the Earth – three times the height of Mount Everest – which would represent a historical first for a solar plane fitted with electric engines.
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Stratospheric plane begins test flights
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An experimental stratospheric solar plane has begun its first test flights in Payerne in western Switzerland.
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Swiss adventurer Raphaël Domjan has unveiled a two-seater solar aircraft with which he hopes to become the first pilot to fly in the stratosophere.
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The “PlanetSolar” catamaran toured across the US, the Panama Canal, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Persian Gulf.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.