Facebook has unveiled a part of its global connectivity strategy under its Internet.org vision from March 2014. That strategy includes the use of solar-powered drones, which can stay aloft for months and provide web access to regions lacking proper infrastructure. Aquila is the name of the first such drone, and in late June, Facebook conducted its first real flight test.
Solar drones as internet access platforms
The idea isn't so crazy, really. Solar drones are much cheaper than satellites, easier to maintain and monitor, and can be automated to a similar degree. There are no squabbles over orbits. Still, they are very difficult to deploy. Not everyone is thrilled about the possibility of drones overhead, especially since nothing prevents mounting a high-definition camera and collecting data that isn't relevant to the service they're supposed to provide. High-profile names are working on similar solutions, and one of them is obviously Facebook. The Internet.org initiative holds the same ideal: less than half the world has internet access, and that needs to be fixed.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/eOez_Hk80TIAquila's first flight
The first step is nothing less than Aquila, a solar drone prototype that rose without a hitch in the final days of June. The drone, which you could honestly mistake for a giant kite, weighs less than a compact car and has the same wingspan as a traditional commercial airliner. Both details are notable, but perhaps the most impressive thing about Aquila is that it stays in flight consuming about as much energy as three hair dryers (roughly five thousand watts, per the official announcement). Half its total mass is dedicated to high-density batteries, and if it seems to fly very slowly in the video, well, that's to minimize energy consumption.
The road ahead
The next twelve months will be critical for Aquila. Its design and indoor testing phase stretched over two years, but now it must face the hostility of weather and time. Its flights will be longer and it will reach much greater altitudes. If all goes well, Aquila will gain some siblings, and together they'll become Facebook's primary resource for bringing internet to more than four billion people.
