EL CALAFATE, Argentina, Sept. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Airbus Perlan Mission II, the world’s first initiative to send an engineless aircraft to the edge of space, made history yesterday in the Patagonia region of Argentina by soaring to over 52,000 feet and setting a new world altitude record for gliding.

The Airbus Perlan Mission II pressurized glider soars above the peaks of the Andes near El Calafate, Argentina, where on Sept. 3 it broke a glider world altitude record by reaching 52,172 feet with Perlan Project pilots Jim Payne and Morgan Sandercock at the controls. (Airbus photo by James Darcy.) The tail camera of the Airbus Perlan Mission II pressurized glider captures a panoramic view from the world-record setting altitude of 52,172 feet, which pilots Jim Payne and Morgan Sandercock attained in their engineless craft on Sept. 3 in the skies over the Patagonian region of Argentina. (Photo courtesy Perlan Project.) Airbus Perlan Mission II pilots Jim Payne (left) and Morgan Sandercock emerge from the cockpit after setting a new glider world altitude record Sept. 3, soaring to 52,172 feet in the pressurized craft that was carried aloft by rare “stratospheric mountain waves” in the Andes Mountains near El Calafate, Argentina. (Photo by Jackie Payne, Perlan Project)

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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“We are celebrating an amazing victory for aerospace innovation and scientific discovery today, and we’re so thankful to all the volunteers and sponsors whose years of tireless dedication have made this achievement possible,” said Ed Warnock, CEO of The Perlan Project. “We will continue to strive for even higher altitudes, and to continue our scientific experiments to explore the mysteries of the stratosphere. We’ve made history, but the learning has just begun.”

“With every Airbus Perlan Mission II milestone, we continue to learn more about how we can fly higher, faster and cleaner. But we also learn that aviation still has the power to surprise us, thrill us, and motivate us to find new frontiers of endeavor,” ‎said Tom Enders, Airbus CEO. "Perlan's outstanding aviation success is the result of bold thinking. It's this kind of thinking that is the cornerstone of our vision for the future of Airbus, which we hope will inspire a new generation of aerospace explorers and innovators."

Chief pilot Jim Payne and co-pilot Morgan Sandercock completed this historic Perlan 2 flight from Comandante Armando Tola International Airport in El Calafate, Argentina, surpassing the previous 50,727-foot world record for glider altitude that was set in the unpressurized Perlan 1 by The Perlan Project founder Einar Enevoldson and lead project sponsor Steve Fossett in 2006.

Airbus Perlan Mission II is an initiative to fly an engineless glider to the edge of space using weather phenomena called stratospheric mountain waves, rising air currents that are significantly heightened a few times a year in only a couple places on earth by the polar vortex. The area around El Calafate, nestled within the Andes Mountains in Argentina, is one of those rare locations where these rising air currents can reach the stratosphere.

Because of its engineless design, the Perlan 2 glider is a unique platform for scientific discovery, and is carrying aloft on every flight experiments ranging in focus from factors influencing climate change to radiation effects on pilots and aircraft at high altitudes.

Following the completion of the mountain-wave gliding season in Argentina, Airbus Perlan Mission II will return to Minden, Nevada, where the all-volunteer team will modify and enhance the Perlan 2 glider based on information acquired in this year‘s test flights. Ultimately, the Perlan Project will attempt to reach 90,000 feet, a world altitude record for any wing-supported flight, with or without an engine.

Tune in to live flights of the Perlan 2 on the Airbus Perlan Mission II Virtual Cockpit at http://bit.ly/VirtualPerlan2. Stay updated on flight schedules by following The Perlan Project on Twitter @PerlanProject and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/perlanproject.