world's first commercial two-seater solar plane will penetrate the stratosphere 80,000 feet above earth

with long thin wings and a compact design, whilst the solarstratos might look more like a low drag glider its full list of credentials are the reason designers are on a mission to push it to its limits. not only will solarstratos be the first commercial two-seater solar plane in history, it will also be the first manned solar plane to penetrate the stratosphere.

mission solarstratos will last about five hours (two hours to ascend into space, fifteen minutes to stay up with the stars and three hours to descend). for weight reasons the vessel will not be pressurised because of weight reasons, obliging the pilots to wear space suits which will also function with solar energy constituting another world first.

packed with an electric motor and covered in solar panels, the tandem two-seater has a wingspan of 24 meters and a weight of 450 kilos. its fitted with a 20kWh battery and is powered by energy company sunpower‘s ultrathin 22-24% efficient maxeon solar cells. the team behind stratosphere are currently testing the plane but expect to have completed their mission within the next two years.