In July 2016, Solar Impulse 2 made aviation history by completing the world’s first solarpowered circumnavigation. At the heart of that pioneering mission were Christoph Schlettig and Michael Anger, who served as Flight Directors responsible for day-to-day mission planning and flight operations. Their work proved that when operating aircraft at the absolute limits of performance, weather, energy management, and flight planning are completely inseparable.
With the thought of translating these hard-won operational insights into scalable technology, the idea for Unisphere was born. Today, the software company builds automated simulation and flight planning technologies for the era of unmanned and green aviation, embedding realworld flight director expertise directly into cutting edge simulation technologies.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the Solar Impulse adventure, this legacy now comes full circle: Unisphere has been selected as the Mission Planning Partner for Climate Impulse—Bertrand Piccard’s and Raphaël Dinelli’s ambitious new project to achieve the first non-stop round-the-world flight powered by green hydrogen.
“Working on Solar Impulse was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Christoph Schlettig, CEO of Unisphere. “The mission fundamentally changed the way we think about flight planning. Every operational lesson we learned – from energy management to weather decision-making – has been incorporated into the software we build today. It is incredibly rewarding to see this knowledge now supporting Climate Impulse.”
While Solar Impulse relied on several specialised teams working in parallel—continuously analysing weather systems, air traffic constraints, aircraft performance, energy management and other operational parameters before integrating this information into the mission planning process—today, Unisphere’s platform automates these highly complex tasks. Using digital twins of the aircraft, high-resolution weather forecasts and advanced optimisation algorithms, the software continuously evaluates how environmental conditions affect aircraft performance, energy consumption, routing and overall mission safety, enabling flight plans to be optimised in real time.
“Climate Impulse introduces a completely new propulsion technology with hydrogen, bringing its own operational challenges,” explains Michael Anger, CTO of Unisphere. “Our software continuously evaluates how weather affects aircraft performance and energy consumption, helping determine the safest and most energy-efficient flight profile throughout the mission.”
Climate Impulse represents a bold new chapter in sustainable aviation, pushing the boundaries of what zero-emission technology can achieve. By harnessing the power of green hydrogen, the ambitious non-stop global journey aims to demonstrate that clean aviation can successfully accomplish missions once considered physically impossible.
“To achieve the impossible, vision alone is not enough. You also need the right operational expertise and technology. Christoph, Michael and the Unisphere team combine the unique experience gathered 10 years ago from Solar Impulse with a new generation of digital mission planning tools. They will play a crucial role in helping Climate Impulse fly safely and efficiently around the world,” said Bertrand Piccard, Co-founder, President and pilot of Climate Impulse.
For Unisphere, the partnership also marks a symbolic milestone: ten years after helping write aviation history with Solar Impulse, the team is once again supporting Bertrand Piccard in pushing the boundaries of what is possible in flight.
