Overview

• Domjan flew the HB-SXA from Sion Airport to 9,521 meters (31,237 feet), eclipsing André Borschberg’s 2010 Solar Impulse mark.
• The five-hour mission combined solar-charged batteries with thermal updrafts and included a brief crossing with a commercial airliner over the Swiss Alps.
• SolarStratos has submitted instrumented, pressure-corrected altitude data to the World Air Sports Federation for official record validation.
• The HB-SXA airframe, built by Elektra Solar, features an 81-foot wingspan, over 230 square feet of solar cells and a 50 kW electric propulsion system.
• Domjan, who led the PlanetSolar circumnavigation, aims to exceed 10,000 meters on future flights as a step toward a manned stratospheric mission.