Airbus Perlan 2 Glider Beginning Final Flight-test Campaign

Perlan 2 Glider Beginning Final Flight-test Campaign

The pressurized, high-altitude Perlan 2 glider is expected to reach a record-breaking altitude of 90,000 feet during the upcoming flight test campaign.

The Perlan 2 glider is pictured in flight. — The Perlan 2 glider has broken its own world subsonic altitude record three times since its debut flight in 2015. (Photo: The Perlan Project)

By Hanneke Weitering • Science & Technology Editor

May 3, 2023

Airbus is preparing to shoot for a world record with another flight of the Perlan 2 pressurized, high-altitude glider. After setting a subsonic altitude record at over 76,000 feet (23 kilometers) in 2018, the Perlan 2 mission team will attempt to reach 90,000 feet (27 kilometers) during a flight-test campaign that will kick off in Argentina on July 22, the team announced on Tuesday.

According to the Perlan Project, the nonprofit organization behind the record-breaking mission, the Perlan 2 glider set sail from the U.S. on May 1 to begin its journey to El Calafate, Argentina, where the flight-test campaign will take place. During the flight tests, a tow airplane will carry the piloted Perlan glider to an altitude of 40,000 to 45,000 feet. The Perlan glider, which has no engines, will then soar to double that altitude by taking advantage of a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as “stratospheric mountain waves,” which form when mountain winds are boosted by the polar vortex.

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