Facebook stops Aquila’s ‘internet drone’

Facebook has announced that it will no longer develop and build its own Aquila internet drones. The special factory intended for this purpose in the British city of Bridgwater is closed.

Facebook says it will not continue with the Aquila drone, because it is no longer needed now that several companies in the aviation sector have designed and built their own high-flying aircraft. The company will continue to work with partners such as Airbus on aircraft systems that provide remote areas with an internet connection from high altitudes. This concerns, for example, flight control computers and batteries with a high energy density. Facebook also says it will continue to work on improving aviation and frequency policies, and will continue to actively participate in regulatory committees.

Internet drones such as the Aquila send the Internet signal from a great height to Earth, where antennas and dishes receive it and convert it into signals that can be used by computers and mobile devices. This concept of systems in aircraft or drones that can provide high-speed internet on the ground by transmitting signals from a great height is also known as a high-altitude platform station. Such drones would fly at altitudes of 18 and 27 kilometers, making them well above the regular altitudes of airliners and not affected by storms. To get to those heights, they are lifted up by a balloon. The energy of the flying machines comes from solar panels, with which they should be able to fly for a maximum of three months.

Facebook reports that it has made significant progress with the technology, especially with the application of millimeter waves. A record of 40Gbit/s would have been achieved for a ground station and a flying Cessna aircraft at a distance of 7 km from the Aquila. The company first performed a completely successful flight and landing with the Aquila drone a year ago. During an earlier test flight in December 2016, the right wing broke during landing.