Online networking service Facebook is now an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) operator, having achieved first flight of the first full-scale, solar-powered, ultra-long-endurance Aquila on 28 June in Yuma, Arizona.
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What made the United Kingdom voyage of Facebook’s drones special, was that according to Zuckerberg, they had a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737, but building them was still, somehow, cost-effective and environment-friendly.
Facebook’s Aquila drone takes off from its launch dolly. It is also working on other aircraft, satellites and ground communication systems to help increase access. He wants to develop the stuff of sci-fi, such as virtual reality communication and over-the-web healthcare, and he wants to do it using a fleet of drones that circle the globe.
The company operated in secret for most of the drone project, but Zuckerberg made it public knowledge that he had a goal to bring the internet connectivity to underserved countries.
Facebook is not the only company racing to tap this market. “I’m excited to see what we can do next”.
“Internet access can offer life-changing opportunities and experiences to all of us, but there are still 4 billion people without it”. That initiative, called Free Basics, has been criticized by those who believe it favors Facebook’s own services over rival offerings. Facebook said the test went better than expected and that Aquila’s 96-minute flight was three times longer than planned.
While the successful test flight of Aquila is a major milestone, Facebook admitted it still has a lot of work ahead of it.
Eventually, Facebook hopes entire fleets of the carbon-fiber drones will fly for up to 90-days at a time in the stratosphere, between 60,000 and 90,000 feet.
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To deliver on its goal, however, Facebook will have to break the boundaries of known science and engineering. The social networking service had acquired Ascenta, a UK-based consultancy with former members of the Qinetiq Zephyr project, a solar-powered UAV that demonstrated almost a fortnight of continuous flight. But Facebook is facing competition from Google, which is developing both drones and air balloons created to do the same thing. As encouraging as the first successful flight is, there is still plenty of work to be done.
