Bertrand Piccard: From Nonstop Ballooning to Solar-Powered Flight Around the World

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss explorer born into a lineage of record-breaking pioneers, redefined human endurance. After achieving the first nonstop balloon circumnavigation of the globe, he turned his sights toward the sky again, leading a multi-year effort to pilot a solar-powered aircraft around the planet without using a drop of fuel.

Born in 1958, Piccard is the grandson of Auguste Piccard, who reached the stratosphere, and the son of Jacques Piccard, who descended into the Mariana Trench. While his predecessors explored vertical extremes, Bertrand focused on horizontal travel. In March 1999, alongside Brian Jones, he completed the first nonstop balloon circumnavigation in the Breitling Orbiter 3. The journey covered over 45,000 kilometers and lasted nearly 20 days, relying on meteorologists to guide them into favorable jet streams.

Following this success, Piccard initiated the Solar Impulse project to demonstrate the potential of clean technology. The aircraft, co-piloted with André Borschberg, featured an expansive wingspan comparable to a large commercial airliner but maintained a remarkably low weight, similar to that of an average automobile. This design allowed the craft to fly day and night, storing solar energy to sustain flight even when sunlight was unavailable. The project involved a massive international effort, including specialists from six countries and support from various academic and private institutions.

The Solar Impulse mission culminated in a historic round-the-world flight completed in July 2016. Beyond aviation, Piccard has leveraged his platform to advocate for environmental sustainability. He founded the World Alliance for Clean Technologies, which has identified and certified hundreds of profitable solutions for environmental protection. His work bridges the gap between extreme exploration and practical, scalable innovation, proving that long-range, fuel-free travel is not only possible but a viable path for future technological development.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• Auguste Piccard: The physicist who conquered both the stratosphere and the deep ocean
• The 1931 balloon flight that everyone assumed ended in a tragic death
• Jacques Piccard and the family that conquered both the highest sky and deepest sea
• The French engineer who invented the joystick and mapped the path to the Moon.
• How a French balloonist survived a 3,000-foot fall to invent the modern parachute
• The accidental explorer who discovered America but refused to step ashore
• Why a legendary sailor abandoned a world-record victory to save his own soul
• The Arikara scout who became George Custer’s most trusted and volatile military companion
• A century before Marco Polo, this medieval traveler mapped the Jewish world
• The BMW 003 was a failed wartime engine that defined the jet age
• How a failed fur trader became the most famous explorer of the American West
• How a remote California inlet became a strategic prize for Russian fur traders

More in Explorers · More in History · Latest · A–Z · All topics