Dassault, Solar Impulse Renew Solar Powered Airplane Technical Partnership

Dassault systems announced today that it has renewed its ongoing technical partnership with Solar Impulse to develop the next phases of the solar-powered, round the world airplane project.

The Solar Impulse 2 airplane uses Dassault Systems’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, including its CATIA and ENOVIA applications, to design, build, and validate this second solar airplane.

Solar Impulse 1 was a test bed for the complex new technologies required to fly day and night using solar energy alone. Solar Impulse 2 will carry the mission forward and fly around the world in 2015.

The team faced new challenges and trade-offs in designing such an innovative plane, including a new design for the fuselage and wings, and using new materials to achieve strict weight objectives. Designing a cockpit providing safety, comfort, and command accessibility for a pilot on an around-the-world flight required sophisticated design and management tools. 

“We continue to apply this entrepreneurial spirit to engineering and research programs that blend 21st century technologies like the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with a mission to improve mankind’s impact on the environment,” said André Borschberg, Co-founder CEO and Pilot, Solar Impulse.

“We had to be right the first time. We needed proven, cutting edge industry solutions to craft the experience for which we were looking. That’s why we went to Dassault Systèmes and its 3DEXPERIENCE platform,” said Bertrand Piccard, Initiator, Chairman and Pilot, Solar Impulse.

“An experience perspective is exactly what we needed when creating an airplane to achieve such long flights. We’re in the cockpit for five days at a time. Everything, from the propulsion, to the electronics, to the crew facilities needs to be considered, planned, integrated and implemented for such a flight to be successful.”

“It’s more than just an airplane, Solar Impulse is a message. The Solar Impulse project is showing the world that alternative, clean energy can be safe and viable in the most extreme circumstances and that it has the power to change the world,” said Michel Tellier, Vice President, Aerospace & Defense Industry, Dassault Systems.