One of the most exciting and ambitious chapters in the history of green aviation ended with a dramatic and unexpected end at the bottom of the ocean. The unique unmanned aerial vehicle Skydweller, powered entirely by solar energy, suffered a crash and sank into the depths of the sea shortly after recording its name in the Guinness Book of Records. Although the machine survived the impressive eight days in the air, the fierce storm and severe weather anomalies proved to be an overwhelming test for its batteries, putting an end to a great technological era.
Behind this extraordinary device stands a legendary story. Its first incarnation was the manned aircraft Solar Impulse 2, with which visionaries Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg circled the globe in 2015. Then the carbon bird with a wingspan of 72 meters (as long as a Boeing 747) and a weight of only 2.3 tons proved that the impossible is possible. Its transatlantic flight relied on over 17,000 photovoltaic cells, which during the day captured the sun's rays and accumulated energy, raising the plane to a high altitude, and at night smoothly descended into an economical mode.
The machine was subsequently purchased by the company Skydweller and transformed into a state-of-the-art, autonomous military drone. The US Army used the platform as an intermediate link between reconnaissance aircraft and low-orbit satellites, capable of carrying up to 363 kilograms of radar and optical equipment. It was during the large-scale FLEX 2026 naval exercises in the Florida Keys that the huge solar drone performed four-day continuous patrol missions, tracking maritime targets and serving as a communication bridge between warships, including the USS Wichita. After the successful completion of the maneuvers, the device headed south to Cuba, where its fate was sealed.
The nightmare began on the night of May 3. Entering an area of extreme atmospheric disturbances, Skydweller was sucked into brutal vertical air masses, the speed of which exceeded the standard limits by a factor of ten. Although the on-board electronics responded adequately, the energy capacity of the batteries was depleted in an attempt to compensate for the monstrous turbulence. On May 4, in the early dawn, operators carried out a controlled splashdown in the Caribbean Sea, but the lack of buoyancy sent the solar giant directly to the bottom. Oh, what an irony!
Despite the black ending, the mission remains in history with an absolute endurance record for a solar plane - an impressive 8 days and 14 minutes in the sky. The great tragedy, however, is cultural and sentimental. Since this was the only existing specimen, the Skydweller project will probably be frozen. Even sadder is that, under an official contract, after the end of military tests, Solar Impulse 2 was supposed to return home and become the pearl of the Swiss Transport Museum. Now this historical monument of human genius lies in the abyss and the only chance to be seen again is to organize a costly underwater expedition.