While most of us are familiar with Facebook as a social network, what many are not privy to is the company’s interest in expanding its technological influence.
One area Facebook is currently exploring is drone technology; specifically, the use of drones as a means for providing web connectivity to the 4 billion people in the world who are presently without Internet.
During a keynote speech at its annual F8 Developer Conference, the company showed off photos of its drone prototype.
Drone as displayed during announcement:
Per Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s chief technology officer, the final design of the company’s V-shaped drone prototype will have a wingspan longer than a Boeing 737, as well as a mass greater than a small car. So it’ll be big, but it’ll also be light.
As it is a drone, the aircraft will obviously be unmanned during its flights. But when it is up in the air, it will provide Internet access to people on the ground.
“It will be powered by solar panels on its wings and it will be able to stay at altitudes of more than 60,000 feet for months at a time,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page. “Aircraft like these will help connect the whole world because they can affordably serve the 10% of the world's population that live in remote communities without existing internet infrastructure.”
He added the aircraft has already completed its first test flight in the U.K.
For those curious, the drone’s codename is Aqulia—this is after the eagle in Greek mythology who carried Jupiter’s thunderbolts.
“We are investing in radical new approaches to this problem… and we are going to the sky,” Schroepfer said. “This is one of many initiatives we are doing.”
These images come close to a year after Facebook announced its intent to build drones, satellites, and lasers for the purpose of delivering the Internet to more people.
Via Mashable.com
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