Project Aquila: Facebook abandoned plans constructionof a fleet of planes to distribute internet, in areas that do not have it.
About four billion people do not have access to the internet worldwide and since 2014 Facebook has been developing the Aquila project. The ambitious spacecraft would use giant solar motors to distribute internet connections around the world.
Facebook has set up a team in Bridgewater, UK to design, develop and test an aircraft that would use the HAPS system (from the high altitude platform station).
The Aquila drone was designed to stay in the air for months and create a 50-kilometer communication zone for up to 90 days, transmitting a signal that through small ground towers would be converted to Wi-Fi or LTE.
The project, like the scale of the Aquila, was very ambitious: The plane had wings the size of an Aquila Boeing 737 αλλά ζύγιζε ένα τρίτο ενός ηλεκτρικού αυτοκινήτου. Σχεδιάστηκε με πετάει μεταξύ 60.000 και 90.000 ποδών κατά τη διάρκεια της ημέρας, πάνω δηλαδή από το υψόμετρο των εμπορικών πτήσεων.
Facebook stated that the team was able to demonstrate that such aircraft were viable as they managed to achieve two flight tests. However, problems arose. The company itself announced that the first test flight ended with a "structural failure" just seconds before landing. Of course he did not specify the term.
The company stated that during the project it made progress in some other key points of the system. For example the integration of millimeter wave technology (MMW) for air-to-ground communication from point to point. However, he said he would stop with the project as other aerospace companies have begun investing in the technology. So he closed his unit in Bridgwater.
"Going forward, we will continue to work with others such as Airbus on HAPS technology and generally on all of them technologies που απαιτούνται να λειτουργήσει το σύστημα, όπως υπολογιστές ελέγχου πτήσης και μπαταρίες υψηλής πυκνότητας”, δήλωσε ο Yael Maguire.
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