Case Study: Solar Impulse engages 3.6 million users and delivers 28 million live video streams with Google Cloud Platform

Solar Impulse puts 3.6 million users in the virtual cockpit of the first solar-powered around-the-world flight using Google Cloud Platform

Solar Impulse, a Swiss team that built and the first solar-powered airplane to fly around the world, set out in 2015 to showcase the potential of clean technologies. To maximize the mission’s public impact they needed a website that could deliver live video, real-time telemetry and frequent updates throughout a 16‑month, multi-leg flight — all while handling unpredictable, global traffic spikes and integrating with services like YouTube and Google Maps.

They ran the site on Google Cloud Platform (App Engine, Cloud Storage and Cloud SQL) with YouTube for streaming and Google Maps for tracking, streaming five onboard cameras and rotating live telemetry and interviews. The solution scaled reliably to support 30 live cockpit interviews, 28 million live video streams, 22 million page views from 3.6 million unique users, and helped amplify Solar Impulse’s message about clean energy worldwide.

Solar Impulse

Bruno Boehm

Deputy Head of Digital