Solar airship targets first non-stop round-the-world flight without fossil fuels

Zero-emissions craft is designed to ‘fly forever’

The Solar Airship One is a rigid airship powered by solar energy and hydrogen (Euro Airship)

A French company is aiming to complete a non-stop circumnavigation of the Earth using a solar-powered airship in a bid to test a new form of zero-emission travel.

France-based Euro Airship is building the Solar Airship One with the aim of completing the round-the-world journey without fossil fuels in less than a month.

Flying at an altitude of around 20,000 feet (6,000 metres), the futuristic craft uses a casing of solar panels, batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells to deliver power day and night, making it theoretically possible to fly forever.

“The good thing is that we’re not doing this world tour flight just for an exhibition or for an adventure... There is an additional process after that for our technology,” French aerobatic pilot Dorine Bourneton, one of the pilots of the airship, told Flying magazine.

“We’ve been working for the last 20 years in R&D, and we self financed it. Since July 2020, we signed a partnership with Capgemini, and they are helping to develop the industrialisation phase.”

Engineers at Capgemini have been working with Euro Airship on the design, manufacturing and assembly process.

“The Solar Airship project demonstrates that it is possible to catalyse an ecosystem to foster the emergence of sustainable air transport solutions,” said Corinne Jouanny from Capgemini Engineering.

Construction of the Solar Airship One is set to begin this year, with the non-stop flight taking place in 2026.

How the Solar Airship One might look flying over Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France (Euro Airship)

The project is part of a new generation of eco-friendly airships that are aiming to offer an alternative to conventional aircraft, which account for around 2 per cent of global CO2 emissions, according to estimates from the International Energy Agency.

British manufacturer Hybrid Air Vehicles is also aiming to begin flights in 2026 of its Airlander 10 airship, while Google founder Sergey Brin is building the Pathfinder 1 airship as part od his Lighter Than Air venture.