While we have heard about how Google’s Project Loon has worked successfully to deliver Internet connectivity to the entire nation of Sri Lanka, here we are with a different project that has a somewhat similar aim – Facebook’s once rumored solar-powered Internet plane that is known as Aquila. Aquila has officially taken flight, where the aircraft itself will have a wingspan of 140 feet and it has one major task – to ensure that even the most remote of regions will be able to have access to the Internet.
Zuckerberg shared, “Aquila is a solar powered unmanned plane that beams down internet connectivity from the sky. It has the wingspan of a Boeing 737, but weighs less than a car and can stay in the air for months at a time. This effort is important because 10% of the world’s population lives in areas without existing internet infrastructure. To affordably connect everyone, we need to build completely new technologies.”
Aquila will be built in the UK and it will still need to go through some testing, although the location of the tests will continue to remain a secret, at least until a leak (or leaks) of some sort happen along the way. It is not too far off, however, and one cannot help but wonder that the only way to access the Internet provided by Aquila would be through a Facebook account. [Press Release]