Yanis Darras 11:05 a.m., February 9, 2024

After taking on the challenge of the solar plane, the Swiss aeronaut is preparing to take another trip around the world. This time, the explorer chose another mode of propulsion. With the Climate Impulse, he wants to prove the viability of the hydrogen plane and fight against “eco-pessimism”.

The challenge is launched. A few years after circumnavigating the world aboard a solar plane, the Solar Impulse, explorer Bertrand Piccard returns with a new project. New objective: go around the world again, this time aboard a hydrogen plane called Climate Impulse. Invited this Friday to Dimitri Pavlenko's microphone, the explorer does not hide his desire to impress people to show the feasibility of his project. 

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"Give the example"

"We plan to be able to make a complete tour of the planet in eight to nine days, without stopovers. The goal is to strike people's minds. We have to show that, with a little ambition, a little questioning , disruption, we must be able to do things that have never been done and set an example", he says at the microphone of Europe 1. 

To achieve this, Bertrand Piccard and his co-pilot Raphaël Dinelli began the construction of this new bird with a wingspan of 34 meters, in the style of P38 Lightning in reference to the aircraft in which Antoine de Saint-Exupéry disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea in 1944 . 

A form of fight against ecoanxiety

“I’ve had enough of the ambient eco-pessimism,” confides the explorer. "Enough of all these people who say that we will not succeed, that there are no solutions, that there is no more hope, or of those who say that we must continue as we do for as long as possible. In fact, it is neither one nor the other,” he assures. 

“We need to bring back the pioneering spirit, we need to bring back the disruption. We need to remember how we evolved in the past and get back to evolving,” he concludes. The Climate Impulse will take flight in 2028. The project should notably allow Airbus, which is participating in the adventure, to have initial technological feedback. The aircraft manufacturer aims to offer its first hydrogen-powered airliners by the mid-2030s.