Rabat - A solar-powered plane has entered Moroccan airspace after flying from the Spanish capital, Madrid, in its first transcontinental flight.
The single-seat aircraft, made of carbon fibre, is the size of a jumbo jet, but only weighs as much as an average family car, according to its creators.
It has 12,000 solar cells turning four electrical motors, which power the carbon fibre aircraft.
It is due to arrive in the Moroccan capital Rabat Tuesday evening after leaving Spain before dawn.
The 1,554-mile (2,500km) journey from Europe to Africa began in May when the plane was flown from Switzerland to Madrid.
The mission is being described as a final dress rehearsal for a round-the-world flight with a new and improved plane in 2014.
Pilot Bertrand Piccard a former balloonist, and Swiss pilot and businessman Andre Borschberg have worked on the Solar Impulse project for nine years.
The aircraft made history in July 2010 when it became the first manned solar plane to complete a 26-hour non-stop flight, proving that the sun's energy was enough to keep the plane in the air, even at night.
The Solar Impulse project was launched in 2003 by Piccard and Swiss pilot Boschberg who flew the first leg of the journey from Switzerland to Madrid in late May.
