FLYING WHALES is back at the LIFT Challenge 2026.

LIFT Challenge, organized in collaboration with Planète Sciences for students, highlights airship technologies and their potential use in opening up isolated territories.

The theme of this 8th edition focuses on wind energy and explores how to support a city in its energy transition by delivering wind turbines from a port while overcoming the constraints of roads that are unsuitable for transporting such oversized components.

Follow-up meetings are organized to support the students throughout the project. The latest session brought together the six participating teams: ENS Rennes, IPSA, ESTACA, ELISA Aerospace Bordeaux, Polytech Tours and EPFL Lausanne.

Each team further developed its prototype under the same conditions as those of the final competition, during which they will have to carry out the same operations as the LCA60T on a reduced scale. These essential tests help assess the performance of their airship across the three main dimensions of the competition: aerostatic balance, flight controls, and payload management.

Next step: the grand finale of the LIFT Challenge 2026, which will take place on Monday, June 29, 2026.