Syensqo marks two years of its strategic partnership with the Climate Impulse initiative, accelerating towards the first non-stop, zero-emission, round-the-world flight powered by green hydrogen. Following a successful first year that saw the completion of the cockpit and significant progress in aircraft design, the collaboration has reached a key milestone in 2026: the integration of Syensqo’s Aquivion ion-exchange polymer into the fuel cell membrane electrode assembly.

This advanced material is critical to supporting the aircraft's range performance, as the project aims to fly 40,000 km in nine days, slated for 2028. The partnership, which includes innovators led by Bertrand Piccard and Raphaël Dinelli, focuses on utilizing Syensqo's high-performance materials to enhance energy density, reduce weight, and enable cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage at -253°C.

The major aircraft structures, including wings, cockpit and fuselage, manufactured with Syensqo composites solutions have been produced in les Sables d’Olonnes and the unprecedented technological challenge of the building of the plane should reach completion by the end of the year. Initial test flights of the Climate Impulse aircraft will then be scheduled in Châteauroux, France.

As the project’s main technology partner, Syensqo contributes advanced materials expertise, application engineering and system-level co-development. A central focus of the collaboration is the development of solutions capable of meeting the extreme constraints of hydrogen aviation.

The collaboration also draws on Syensqo’s green hydrogen laboratory in Bollate, Italy, which supports research, testing and validation activities related to the hydrogen value chain, from materials innovation to applied system performance, helping to accelerate development timelines and de-risk emerging solutions.

“Climate Impulse exemplifies how science, innovation and partnership can come together to address some of the most complex challenges of our time,” said Mike Radossich, CEO of Syensqo. “With our lightweight composite materials and now confirming our ion-exchange polymer material at the heart of the chemical reaction to power the aircraft, we are demonstrating how advanced materials can help turn the ambition of zero-emission non-stop round the world flight into a tangible reality.”

“Syensqo is a major strategic and technological partner, without whom the Climate Impulse project could not have been announced or even considered,” said Bertrand Piccard, Chairman and Initiator of Climate Impulse. “Together, we are showing that high tech light-weighted material can enable solutions once considered impossible, including clean, long-range aviation.”

With this non-stop round-the-world mission, Bertrand Piccard and co-pilot Raphaël Dinelli aim to demonstrate that zero-emission aviation is not a distant vision, but an achievable reality.