The drone, which was developed as part of the internet.org project in which Facebook is a company, will receive the energy it needs from the sun, and will transmit the internet transmission to the surfers below it using laser beams that will transmit them using cell-like cells.
Facebook announced Aquila, a drone or UAV with a wingspan of 40 meters and weighing less than a car. The drone will be able to stay in place at an altitude of 20-30 thousand meters for three months at a time. According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a video on his personal page, the drone's first flight will take place later in 2015.
The drone, which was developed as part of the internet.org project in which Facebook is a company, will receive the energy it needs from the sun, and will transmit the internet transmission to the surfers below it using laser beams that will transmit them using cell-like cells.
"The operation is important because 10% of the world's population lives in areas where there is no Internet infrastructure," writes Zuckerberg. "To connect everyone at a reasonable cost, we are required to build completely new technologies."
"Using airplanes to connect communities using lasers may seem like science fiction," Zuckerberg continues, "but science fiction is simply science before its time. In the coming months we will test these systems in the real world and update them so that we can make their promise a reality."
A full-size version of Akila is currently being developed by Facebook's aviation team in the UK, and is close to completion and ready for flight testing," says Jay Parikh, Facebook's vice president of engineering and infrastructure. The British team is based on Facebook's purchase of the British drone manufacturer Ascenta for $20 million in March of this year.
