Internet.org A Step Closer To Bringing Affordable Internet To The Unconnected

Acquila

Nearly three years ago, Mark Zuckerberg set out on a journey, with like-minded partners, to connect the next billion through the initiative Internet.org. Internet.org has seen several large steps taken in the time since to achieve this goal. A big step came in the form of Facebook’s Connectivity Lab accomplishing the first full-scale test flight of Aquila, its high-altitude unmanned aircraft.

Aquila is a solar-powered airplane that can be used to bring affordable internet to hundreds of millions of people in the hardest-to-reach places. When complete, it 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 hyper 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 only 5,000 watts — the same amount as three hair dryers, or a high-end microwave.

Mark Zuckerberg with Acquila pre-flight
Mark Zuckerberg with Acquila pre-flight

Facebook Connectivity Lab was formed as part of its commitment to Internet.org to build new technologies — including aircraft, satellites, and wireless communications systems — to help solve connectivity problems more quickly. The thought process is that internet access can offer life-changing opportunities and experiences to all of us, but there are still 4 billion people without it. That’s 60 percent of the global population. As many as 1.6 billion of those unconnected people live in remote locations with no access to mobile broadband networks, where implementing existing network technologies is so challenging and costly that it will take years to bring everyone affordable access. Aquila’s successful maiden trip is hence a significant milestone in this direction.

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