The Perlan Project is entering an exciting new phase. Our work is evolving in line with our mission of innovation, scientific exploration and inspiration. This team has accomplished incredible achievements.
Perlan was named for pearlescent high altitude clouds. This lidar image inspired Einar Enevoldson to dream of exploring high altitude waves. This marks the beginning of our evolution.
The Perlan Project continued to evolve. In 2006 Einar and Steve Fosset set a world altitude record of 50,727 feet wearing pressure suits. That was the genesis of building a pressurized Perlan glider.
The highly successful Perlan 2 space sailplane set 4 successive world altitude records culminating in 76,124 feet pressure altitude in 2018!
Those flights were piloted by Jim Payne with Perlan co-pilots Morgan Sandercock, Miguel Iturmendi and Tim Gardner and towed by Arne Vasenden.
The team’s expertise in high-altitude soaring flights have set us up for leadership in other high-altitude endeavors. The Perlan Project again partnered with Airbus in the very successful cutting-edge Blue Condor project that evaluated how different possible jet fuels would impact contrails in 2024.
We’re ready to advance and take the next step. With autonomous aircraft technology maturing, autonomous soaring is now theoretically possible. Perlan team members are actively involved in creating realistic models for atmospheric exploration using autonomous soaring. Our expertise spans high-altitude weather forecasting, flight preparation for the stratosphere, and soaring above 50,000 feet multiple times. This evolution can take us beyond the constraints of a heavy, crewed high-altitude glider. The Perlan Atmospheric Research Team (PARTners), includes Stratodynamics, AV Experts (Team Egrett), and Weather Extreme.
We plan to create a smaller and lighter science research platform. Without the weight of the crew and life support systems, we can carry more research instruments at a much lower cost. We can fly more frequently by eliminating required crew rest and the servicing of the life support and pressurization systems required by a human crew.
We are proud of our accomplishments to date. As a team we celebrate our stellar legacy of accomplishing aviation firsts within stringent safety protocols. So far, The Perlan Project has proven the existence of strong, high stratospheric waves; conducted scientific research never before possible with conventional aircraft; and shared our mission with millions of students, aviation enthusiasts, and scientists as an inspirational example of achieving the seemingly impossible.
Perlan’s almost unbelievable aviation firsts led to being a finalist three different years for the NAA Collier Trophy as the most significant aviation achievement of the year. Certainly no other non-profit aviation organization has ever been a finalist 3 times.
Future missions may include work that requires us to travel to different parts of the world. While there are no current plans to return to Argentina in 2026, we are exploring science opportunities which may bring us back to southern Argentina. El Calafate is a prime location for high altitude soaring flights.
Stay tuned to our social media channels as we report future milestones for The Perlan Project.
