Project Loon:Balloon-powered Internet for everyone
What is Project Loon?
Many of us think of the Internet as a global community. But two-thirds of the world’s
population does not yet have Internet access. Project Loon is a network of balloons
traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas,
help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters.
The technology
Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and the
weather. In the stratosphere, there are many layers of wind, and each layer of wind
varies in direction and speed. Loon balloons go where they’re needed by rising or
descending into a layer of wind blowing in the desired direction of travel. By
partnering with Telecommunications companies to share cellular spectrum we’ve enabled
people to connect to the balloon network directly from their phones and other
LTE-enabled devices. The signal is then passed across the balloon network and back
down to the global Internet on Earth.
Where Loon has been
Project Loon began in June 2013 with an experimental pilot in New Zealand, where a
small group of Project Loon pioneers tested Loon technology. The results of the pilot
test, as well as subsequent tests in New Zealand, California’s Central Valley and in
Northeast Brazil, are being used to improve the technology in preparation for the
next stages of the project .
Balloon-Powered Internet For Everyone
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