Google has been paying Virgin Galactic around $1,000 per day to use the hangar and had paid $300,000 to build the infrastructure to support the 5G (fifth-generation wireless) tech.
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It’s all part of a sister project to Project Loon, a venture in which Google has been developing balloons to beam wireless Internet down to offline areas of the globe. Google did not respond to a request for comment. This means that data can potentially be transmitted at speeds of up to 40 times more than current 4G LTE network systems. And the technology to overcome this, focussed transmission from a phased array, is highly power-consuming and complex.
In order to ensure security, Google has set up its own flight control terminal at the Spaceflight Operations Centre. Information gleaned by examining email exchanges between Google and Spaceport America confirms that the aircraft have free access to Spaceport’s runways for testing purposes. Google ultimately envisages thousands of high altitude “self-flying aircraft” delivering internet access around the world, according to the Guardian.
The tests are taking place at the Spaceport America facility in the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, as Business Insider reported in November.
The report claims that the project, codenamed SkyBender, will see drones deliver 5G internet to those within the vicinity.
The SkyBender system is being tested with an “optionally piloted” aircraft called Centaur as well as solar-powered drones made by Google Titan, a division formed when Google acquired New Mexico startup Titan Aerospace in 2014.
Although the FCC has granted permission for airborne testing, Google is running out of time.
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Google’s plans to test experimental radios appears to be related to its ongoing “Project Loon”.
