Facebook builds massive, solar-powered drone

There have been a number of initiatives over the past few years to deliver Internet connectivity to areas under- or unserved at present. Companies such as Facebook and Google have tried various methods, including Google’s Loon, a balloon-based wide area wireless network. Now, Facebook has made a major advance in its own high-altitude initiative, the Aquila drone.

The massive drone, a part of the company’s Internet.org program, has the wingspan of a 737 airliner but has a fraction of the weight. The drone includes a laser communications system that is able to deliver data at more than 10Gbps, and is powered by the sun. The drone is designed to loiter high in the atmosphere reaching from 60 to 90,000 feet for up to 90 days.

The drone is designed to deliver high-quality Internet connectivity to locations without even a 3G connection, a segment of the population that Facebook estimates to be at least 10 percent of the global population.

It is unlikely that Facebook itself will build and operate a fleet of drones of this type. The company’s stated goal is to create a proof of concept that other companies and service providers will be able to use to address areas that are unable to access the Internet effectively through other means.