Social media giant plans within months to start testing the craft which is intended to provide internet access to remote areas
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| Facebook drone Aquila awaits testing later this year. |
Social media giant plans within months to start testing the craft which is intended to provide internet access to remote areas.
Facebook has announced the completion of its first full-scale drone, which it says has the wingspan of a Boeing 737 and will provide internet access in remote parts of the world.
The company said it would test the aircraft in the US later in 2015.
The plane would weigh about 880lbs (400kg), said Yael Maguire, the company’s engineering director of connectivity, and operate between 60,000ft (18km) and 90,000ft (27km) – above the altitude of commercial airplanes – so it would not be affected by weather.
Jay Parikh, vice-president of engineering, said: “Our mission is to connect everybody in the world.”
“This is going to be a great opportunity for us to motivate the industry to move faster on this technology.”
The drone, which was built in 14 months, was able to fly in the air for 90 days at a time, Maguire said. Helium balloons would help it into the air. The drone has a wingspan of 46 yards (42m).
Because the planes must constantly move to stay aloft they would circle a two-mile (3km) radius, Parikh said. During the day they would float to 90,000ft and at night drift down to 60,000ft to conserve energy.
The solar-powered drones are part of a program called Aquila, which according to Facebook executives is geared towards the 10% of the population who do not have any internet access.
Separately, Facebook a year ago launched internet.org, an initiative to provide access to the two-thirds of the world without a reliable connection.
Parikh said Facebook was not planning to sell the drones but would use them to expand internet access.
Although Facebook does not immediately face policy or legal hurdles in testing its drone in the US, Maguire said, it was the first company to fly at such altitudes and had a team working with policymakers to help set guidelines.
(Source: Theguardian)
