Dassault Systèmes, Solar Impulse renew partnership for solar-powered aircraft project

January 13, 2015 10:59 am

  Dassault Systèmes announced the renewal of its ongoing technical partnership with Solar Impulse SA for the next phases of solar-powered, round the world airplane project. The Solar Impulse 2 airplane, revealed on April 9 and successfully test flown in June of this year, is designed using Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform.  Solar Impulse uses Dassault Systèmes’ 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 incredibly 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. Dassault Systèmes applications, in use by the team since 2006, helped ensure smooth execution of the ongoing development process and milestones.
“For over a century, pioneers have been pushing the limits of aviation and transforming ideas into ‘firsts,’ from the first human flight to balloon flights and space missions once thought to be impossible,” 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.” Michel Tellier, Vice President, Aerospace and Defense Industry, Dassault Systèmes said, “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.”