Facebook drone takes to the skies

Not content with its worldwide user base of 1.6 billion people, Facebook is investing heavily in technology that the company says will potentially bring the internet to every corner of the globe, opening up access to even the most remote parts of Earth.

The company recently deployed a successful test flight of one of its Aquila solar-powered ‘giant’ drones. It flew at a few thousand feet for just over an hour and a half in the skies above Yuma, Arizona. The eventual intention is for a fleet of Aquila drones to fly at more than 18,000 m for months at a time and to communicate with one another to deliver internet access to remote regions.

Facebook is also investing in a range of projects aimed at getting more people online under the ‘internet.org’ project, which it says has the “goal of bringing internet access and the benefits of connectivity to the two-thirds of the world that doesn‘t have them”. The more cynical among us could see this as a less altruistic endeavour than the company would hope, but it is certainly investing in expensive solutions. In addition to the high-altitude, long-endurance drones, ‘The Connectivity Lab’ also encompasses development with satellites and lasers to make ‘affordable internet access possible’ to the masses.

The company will continue to test Aquila over the next 12 months, flying higher and longer and hoping to soon break the record for the longest solar-powered unmanned aircraft flight, which currently stands at two weeks.