In Les Sables d'Olonne, France, 60% of an extraordinary aircraft has already been built. Wings, cockpit, and fuselage are taking shape for what will become the first green hydrogen aircraft capable of circling the globe non-stop. The goal: nine days of continuous flight at 180 km/h, with two pilots taking turns at the controls.

Once again, Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard is pushing technological boundaries with Climate Impulse, years after his round-the-world journeys aboard the Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon (in 1999) and Solar Impulse airplane (in 2016). To make this bet pay off, he has mobilized a vast ecosystem of financial and technical partners including Syensqo, Orange, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, OCP Group, and Breitling, among others.

A strategic partnership with Syensqo

Syensqo, a global specialty chemicals giant, is the main technology partner. As Bertrand Piccard emphasizes, "it's a major strategic and technological partner, without whom the project could not have been announced or even considered". This relationship isn't new: the company, which emerged from the Solvay group, had already supplied materials and even developed new technologies for Solar Impulse.

For Climate Impulse, the commitment goes far beyond simple financial partnership. "Our role is to demonstrate what's possible with our products. This isn't just about supplying materials, but co-building complete technological solutions”  says Jed Richter, who leads the application engineering team for Europe at Syensqo.

The main challenge? Developing tanks capable of keeping liquid hydrogen at -253°C for nine days of flight: "a technology that doesn't yet exist," Bertrand Piccard points out. "It's not just a material, it's an entire technological system that needs to be assembled," adds Jed Richter. "It's already been proven that hydrogen tanks can work for a few hours. But a continuous nine-day mission is a huge leap!"

When AI accelerates things…

While Syensqo brings its expertise in ultra-lightweight composite materials and R&D capabilities, the group also leverages its startup ecosystem to accelerate innovation within the project. This is where Plyable comes in, a UK-based tooling integrator with a unique AI-powered digital manufacturing platform. Syensqo Ventures invested in Plyable in 2022, at the beginning of their software development journey.

"Through the Plyable platform, Syensqo can rely on artificial intelligence to optimize design, particularly the winglets [the small fins at the wing tips that reduce drag], and the radome [the aircraft's nose], reducing drag and improving aerodynamic performance,” explains Bertrand Piccard.

“Climate Impulse is a landmark project for sustainable aviation and a natural extension of Plyable’s long-standing collaboration with Syensqo”, says Jamie Snudden, Sales Director of Plyable.

From Syensqo’s perspective, the real differentiator is the pace at which ideas can be turned into reality. "Their platform helps us design the process and manufacture the tooling needed to produce components for Climate Impulse," explains Jed Richter. "From initial design to final parts, we're talking about a six-week timeline for tooling, followed by two additional weeks for component manufacturing – roughly eight weeks total. Five years ago, we would have been looking at a 15 to 20-week schedule. They've really moved the needle on these timelines."

An ecosystem of 20+ startups

Plyable is just one example among the twenty or so startups involved in Climate Impulse. "They work on various components: structure, landing gear, propeller, canopy, fuel cell optimization," lists Bertrand Piccard.

This collaboration with startups is an integral part of Syensqo's innovation strategy. Through its ventures’ teams, but also all its researchers and scientists, the group estimates it identifies 500 to 600 innovative companies per year worldwide. Collaborations can then take different forms: investment, material supply, expertise sharing for the industrial phase, client/supplier commercial relationships (as is the case with Plyable, for example).

A project preparing tomorrow's aviation

A project like Climate Impulse is the ideal testing ground for these collaborations. Because beyond the technical feat, Climate Impulse is designed as a long-term innovation catalyst. "If you look at our portfolio today, in composites or batteries, we have materials and products that were developed through the work done with Solar Impulse," recalls Jed Richter, adding that "one of the reasons we're supporting Climate Impulse today is to develop the technologies that may define industries in the next 5 to 10 years."

For Bertrand Piccard, even though there's still a long road ahead, the message is clear: "The project aims to counter the prevailing pessimism about the impossibility of decarbonizing aviation. Green hydrogen is a key technology for a clean industry." Climate Impulse must prove that zero-emission aviation isn't a pipe dream.

Initial test flights are already scheduled later this year in Châteauroux, France. By March 2029, both pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Raphaël Dinelli, should take off for their nine-day non-stop round-the-world journey. "I love the kind of project where, the first time someone describes it to you, you think 'that's crazy, we'll never pull it off'," concludes Jed Richter. "It's this type of project that can really generate great innovations."