The unique Aviation Experience of Solar Impulse - The starting point of Unisphere
In 2007, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg set out on a mission that still seems impossible today: The First Round-The-World Solar Flight, powered only by the sun, with no fuel or polluting emissions.
The objective was to design, build and fly a zero-fuel aircraft of almost unlimited endurance, capable of circumnavigating the globe. With the wingspan of a commercial airliner, the weight of a family car and the speed of a scooter, the Solar Impulse team created a new type of aircraft that was previously thought to be impossible.
In 2016, the Solar Impulse team successfully completed the record-breaking mission – covering over 40,000 km across land and oceans demonstrating that clean technologies achieve impossible goals.
The two founders of Unisphere, Michael Anger and Christoph Schlettig have been the flight test engineers and flight directors for Solar Impulse. Their idea to transfer this unique operational experience into software was the starting point of Unisphere – to develop a software platform improving the safety and increasing the automation of unmanned aviation.
Joining Forces
Founded in 2017 by Christoph Schlettig and Michael Anger, Unisphere was established with the vision to create technologies to automate new types of unmanned aircraft such as drones and air taxis.
Right from the start, they have been joined by the Co-founders Guido Baltes, Johannes Gerl, and Christoph Selig, who complement the strong engineering and aviation background of the two founders with entrepreneurial and innovation know-how.
With his background in innovation and corporate venturing, both as a researcher and consultant, Christoph Selig was responsible for building up Kilometer1, the local startup initiative in Konstanz. He completes the management team and is responsible for business development and marketing.
Guido holds the chair for strategic management and innovation at University of Applied Sciences, Konstanz. His input is essential to support strategy making and marketing.
Johannes successfully led his software company to an exit with a major European aerospace company. Going full circle as a serial entrepreneur he supports sales and growth management.
Guido and Johannes serve as an advisory board to provide strategic advice and support our management team. Today, Unisphere comprises an experienced team of ten people who share the vision to automate unmanned aviation.
Automating Unmanned Aviation
Unisphere is developing software capable of creating a digital twin of a flight for any drone or air taxi. This digital twin consists of a 4D trajectory enriched with all the data necessary for an accurate simulation of a flight, such as high-resolution weather data, airframe and payload limitations, or the performance model. Pilot know-how transferred into software allows an automated and reliable assessment of every flight and checks for potential risks, helping all operators to ensure an automated, safe, and efficient flight operation.
With first software tools already deployed to customers, Unisphere is driving further automation of flight management for unmanned aviation. Our digital twin for every flight is a key technology for the fully automated commercial operation of drones and air taxis.