- Pilot Raphaël Domjan and the SolarStratos team have attracted a great deal of interest with their HB-SXA aircraft, which has already notched up over 70 flights.
Paris. 22 June 2023. On Wednesday, to celebrate SolarStratos’ pioneering spirit, the team invited the who’s who of aviation pioneers to its 600 m2 stand at the heart of the show. An event honoured by the presence of the Swiss Ambassador to France Roberto Balzaretti. French aerobatics champion and President of the Aéro-Club de France Catherine Maunoury was present alongside extreme sportswoman Géraldine Fassnacht, explorer Bertrand Piccard, navigator and solar plane pilot Raphaël Dinelli, astronaut Jean-François Clervoy, pioneer Gérard Thevenot, navigator and mountaineer Eric Loizeau, and pilots Hugues Duval and André Bochberg. To name but a few.
HB-SXA shone a spotlight on the potential of solar energy in front of the giants of world industry. “To be able to do it here, at the world’s biggest aeronautical event, is a godsend for the mission and all its partners. We are doing a magnificent job of promoting electric aviation and solar energy and their potential for a low-carbon, sustainable future, so that we can continue to inspire the younger generation,” said Raphaël Domjan.
Visitors to the Air Show will have until Sunday to discover the technological and technical challenges that SolarStratos is taking on, starting with the first high-altitude record (10,000m) that will be attempted this year. The mission has also captured the imagination of the media, with several outlets running reports, including the 20 Heures programme on France 2, the 19:30 programme on Swiss television (RTS), the Canal + channels, with the famous science journalist Michel Chevalet, and six pages in special issues of the youth magazines L’Actu and Mon Quotidien.
