Stay tuned! Facebook restarts testing of solar-powered internet drones

China Energy Storage Network : According to reports, Facebook last year formulated an ambitious global Internet plan: to develop a solar-powered drone to transmit Internet to all parts of the world, but the company seems to have not yet completed the relevant concept testing. The latest report said that Faceboook is working with aviation giant Airbus to conduct relevant drone tests in Australia.

A report from German media NetzPolitik said the two companies had held test flight cooperation talks last year and had planned to conduct drone test flights in November and December 2018. It is reported that Facebook and Airbus have previously cooperated on satellite drone communication systems.

The test flights involved the Airbus Zephyr drone, an aircraft model designed for "defense, humanitarian and environmental missions," but it's unclear whether any of the test flights took place. The Airbus Zephyr drone is very similar to Facebook's previously launched Aquiladrone drone, a "high altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS)" that uses solar power as a power source and can stay aloft for "months."

Figure: Airbus Zephyr S and T aircraft

The Zephyr S drone chosen by Facebook has a wingspan of 25 meters, can fly at a maximum altitude of 20 kilometers, and uses millimeter wave radio to transmit signals to the ground.

The original intention of Facebook's cooperation with Airbus was undoubtedly to test the payload of the social network - the Internet broadcasting equipment; but since the current information is limited to the plans and meeting content before the test, the final results of the two companies' test are still inconclusive.

"We continue to work with partners on High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) connectivity. We don't have additional details to share at this time," a Facebook spokesperson said.

Facebook has a number of R&D projects aimed at increasing internet access around the world, especially in developing countries such as Asia, Africa and Latin America. The drone internet project is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to bring internet connectivity to remote areas, but it also uses software and existing infrastructure to try to make internet access more affordable.

This includes the controversial Internet.org project, which was declared illegal in India because it selectively uses some websites and applications and violates the principle of network neutrality. The project has been scaled down in some markets since it was renamed FreeBasics, possibly due to setbacks in the Indian market, but Facebook said last year that the project has benefited nearly 100 million people so far. However, this may also include a certain number of paying users.