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Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has announced the social network has completed the construction of its first drone that will beam internet signal down to the Earth’s surface.
The idea is to use the high-altitude drones to provide internet connectivity to those currently lacking it. News of the completion was revealed in a video posted to Zuckerberg’s page on the social network.
The video shows how Facebook has brought together scientists from all walks of like to build the 42 metre wingspan drones. That’s the same as a Boeing 737 by the way. The drones are solar powered and can stay in the air for three months at a time.
In his post with the video, Zuckerberg said: “I’m excited to announce we’ve completed construction of our first full scale aircraft, Aquila, as part of our Internet.org effort.
“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.
“Using aircraft to connect communities using lasers might seem like science fiction. But science fiction is often just science before its time. Over the coming months, we will test these systems in the real world and continue refining them so we can turn their promise into reality.”
Internet.org is the foundation whose aim is to bring the internet to everyone on the planet – and of which Facebook is a founding member.
