Facebook launches its unmanned solar-powered internet service provider
Culture
The space race to broadcast internet down to planet earth is in full effect, and the latest player in the game is Facebook, who announced the successful launch of their new Aquila aircraft.
Mark Zuckerberg shared a video on his Facebook page this morning, shortly after 9 am Pacific time, stating that after two years of engineering, I'm proud to announce successful first play of Aquila, the solar-powered airplane we design to beam internet to remote parts of the world.
First flight took place at dawn on June 28 2016 in Yuma Arizona, according to the videos the plain is design to stay in the air for months at the time, beaming at.
Internet signals to some of the most remote places in the world.
The aircraft has a wingspan as long as a commercial airliner and can fly on roughly the power of three blow dryers.
The inaugural flight was to test the aircrafts functions including aerodynamics, the batteries on board, certain control systems, and training the crew for future flights.
Zuckerberg shared his goals for Aquila in a blog post, which include launching a fleet of Aquilas, flying together at 60,000 feet, communicating with each other with lasers and staying aloft for months at a time, something that's never been done before.
Make sure to check back to cnet.com for more information on Facebook's Aquila solar powered aircraft.
