Facebook’s Internet drone makes first test flight
Facebook’s Connectivity Lab announced the first full-scale test flight of Aquila, its high-altitude unmanned aircraft.
Aquila is a solar-powered plane that can be used to bring Internet connectivity to people in the hardest-to-reach places.
When complete, Aquila will be able to circle a region up to 60 miles in diameter, beaming connectivity down from an altitude of more than 60,000 feet using laser communications and millimeter wave systems.
Aquila is designed to be efficient, so it can fly for up to three months at a time.
The aircraft has the wingspan of an airliner, but at cruising speed it will consume 5,000 watts – the same amount of energy as a high-end microwave.
“We’ve been flying a one-fifth scale version of Aquila for several months, but this was the first time we’ve flown the full-scale aircraft,” said Facebook.
“This first functional check was a low-altitude flight, and it was so successful that we ended up flying Aquila for more than 90 minutes – three times longer than originally planned.”
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