astronomy

Raphaël Domjan

Raphaël Domjan is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Raphaël Domjan rather than just read about it. In short: Raphaël Domjan (born 19 January 1972) is a Swiss explorer and lecturer. He started and completed the first round-the-world trip using solar energy between September 2010 and May 2012 aboard the MS catamaran PlanetSolar.

Key takeaways

Raphaël Domjan belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Raphaël Domjan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Raphaël Domjan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Raphaël Domjan (born 19 January 1972) is a Swiss explorer and lecturer. He started and completed the first round-the-world trip using solar energy between September 2010 and May 2012 aboard the MS catamaran PlanetSolar. In 2015, he carried out the first polar solar navigation in the Arctic Ocean. He is the founder and pilot of the SolarStratos project, the first solar plane in the stratosphere. In August 2020, he made the first jump off of an electric plane and the first solar free fall. Raphaël Domjan is a pilot, mountaineer, diver and parachutist. He is a member of the Explorer Club of New York as well as the Société des Explorateurs Français. He was made a Knight of the Order of Saint-Charles by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco on 17 November 2022.

Biography Raphaël Domjan was born on 19 January 1972 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and raised in Lausanne. In 2001, he co-founded the company Horus Networks Sàrl, the world's first solar web server. In 2004, Domjan launched his first solar-powered round-the-world project. He founded PlanetSolar SA then, in 2007, the PlanetSolar Foundation. The PlanetSolar catamaran was built in Germany between 2008 and 2010, financed by the German entrepreneur Immo Stroeher. In 2007, he travelled between Martinique and Dominica in the expedition of the Sun 21, the first solar boat to cross the Atlantic using solar energy. On this occasion he probably made the first dive from a solar boat in history. He also participated in the crossing of the United States north/south with Louis Palmer aboard the SolarTaxi, a solar and electric car. Between 2010 and 2012, he made the first solar-powered round-the-world trip aboard PlanetSolar as the leader of the expedition. In 2012, Domjan became a speaker and member of the Global Speaker Association. Since then he has given lectures regarding his world tour and explaining the reasons which pushed him to go on it. In 2014, he brought together an international team and launched the SolarStratos mission, the objective of which was to reach the stratosphere with a piloted solar plane. He plans to perform this record flight in 2023. In 2015, along with the sailor Anne Quemere, he attempted to make the first crossing of the Northwest Passage in a solar powered kayak. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were unfavorable and they had to turn back after 300 km. The expedition nevertheless constitutes the first solar polar navigation in history. On 25 August 2020, he jumped out of the SolarStratos HB-SXA solar plane in Payerne, Switzerland, with test pilot Miguel Iturmendi in command of the plane, the first jump off of an electric plane and the first free fall in solar history. He dropped several hundred meters and reached a speed of 150kmh. In 2021, he became the first pilot of an electric plane flight with a head of state. On 14 September 2021 they took off with a Pipistrel Velis128 operated by Elektropostal from Nice airport in France with H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco and they flew over the Principality of Monaco. The plane flew for 30 minutes at a maximum altitude of 900 feet. On 18 June 2022 Raphaël Domjan took off with HB-SXA solar plane from Sion airport in Switzerland with the adventurer Géraldine Fasnacht on board. She jumped from SolarStratos at more than 9,000 feet above the Swiss Alps and achieved the first wingsuit flight from an electric and solar plane. She landed in the village of Verbier in Switzerland at more than 1,000 meters above sea level. In April 2025, he brought a second-hand solar boat, the “MS PlanetSolar II”, to Lake Titicaca at an altitude of 3,810 metres, the highest navigable lake in the world. The vessel is intended to support scientists and archaeologists in protecting it from human pollution and climate change. On 12 August 2025, he set a historic record by becoming the highest-flying pilot in the world in an electric and solar-powered aircraft, reaching 9,521 metres at the controls of the solar aircraft SolarStratos HB-SXA.

PlanetSolar

First world tour using solar energy The MS Tûranor PlanetSolar is the largest solar boat built to date and the first to have sailed around the world powered by solar energy. Having left Monaco on 27 September 2010, the PlanetSolar and her crew followed a route close to the Equator. After passing through the Atlantic Ocean, Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Suez Canal and Mediterranean, the boat reached Monaco on 4 May 2012. after 585 days and 60,006 km traveled.

PlanetSolar crew members during the first solar world tour (2010-2012) Raphaël Domjan was the expedition leader of PlanetSolar during his round the world trip between 2010 and 2012. Patrick Marchesseau was the captain of PlanetSolar from Monaco to Nouméa, and Erwann le Rouzic took over from Nouméa until the return to the starting point, Monaco. They were accompanied by Jens Langwasser, a boatman, and Christian Oschenbein, an electrical engineer.

Firsts and records During its round-the-world trip, PlanetSolar achieved a number of firsts: the first solar-powered round-the-world trip, first trip around the world by solar boat, and first crossing of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea with solar energy. In terms of records, PlanetSolar is also the largest solar boat in the world, and is the solar vehicle that traveled the longest distance (60,023 km).

Stamps After the first round the world trip by solar boat, La Poste Monaco issued a postage stamp on the adventure PlanetSolar with a value of 77 centimes Euros representing PlanetSolar in Monaco.

SolarStratos The project aims to demonstrate the potential of solar energy and electricity to go beyond what is possible with conventional propulsion methods. The SolarStratos aircraft was unveiled to the public and the media on December 7, 2016, and completed its maiden flight on May 5, 2017, in Payerne, Switzerland. On 25 August 2020, SolarStratos was used for the first jump from an electric aircraft, which also marked the first solar-powered free fall in history. On 12 August 2025, departing from Sion, Switzerland, the solar aircraft HB-SXA reached an altitude of more than 30,000 feet (over 9,500 metres), setting the absolute altitude record for a crewed electric and solar-powered aircraft. Following the planned stratospheric flight, the SolarStratos team has stated its intention to contribute to the energy transition, particularly by supporting the electrification of future aviation.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Raphaël Domjan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Raphaël Domjan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Raphaël Domjan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Raphaël Domjan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Raphaël Domjan

In research: Raphaël Domjan appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Raphaël Domjan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Raphaël Domjan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1972 births, 21st-century Swiss educators, 21st-century Swiss inventors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Raphaël Domjan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Raphaël Domjan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Raphaël Domjan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Raphaël Domjan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Raphaël Domjan in simple terms?

Why does Raphaël Domjan matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Raphaël Domjan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Raphaël Domjan.