Perhaps it is time for the blimp to make it’s long overdue comeback as a viable transportation method. A group of students from technical high schools and engineering schools in France have built a solar blimp that will cross the English Channel by the end of the summer.

The 72-foot helium blimp is made of nylon and polyethylene fabric stretched around an aluminum frame. The top of the blimp is covered in flexible solar cells capable of generating 2.4 kW. The cells will fully power the blimp’s small motor and allow it to reach a speed of 25 mph.