Facebook aircraft and ambitious free Internet

In secret, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have done a high-powered solar project, the ultimate goal of bringing the Internet to the world.

"The whole team was very nervous when I arrived," Mark told The Verge when he appeared at the secret camp in Yuma, Arizona, USA at 2 am on June 28. That morning, the first test flight of the Internet plane will take place.

Two dozen people worked for two years to create Aquila.

The Internet plane

For months, they tried the first flights, trying to safely take off, stabilize in the air and fly for at least 30 minutes."I believe this is an important milestone for the company, and the world. I have to be there , " Mark said.

With Facebook, Aquila is not just a telegraphic concept, it is their commitment to bringing Internet to 7 billion people around the world, regardless of cowardly.

This work will help millions of people overcome poverty, Mark said, along with improving the quality of education and health. It also allows the generation of the next generation of AI and VR.

Future technology needs more stable transmission, and drone (unmanned aircraft) is the solution. The road to Facebook's VR version is under the wingspan of Aquila.

Aquila's wingspan covers the future of humanity, according to Facebook.

It's not easy, Aquila has a wingspan of up to 42m, much larger than a Boeing 737. But the challenge is to make it lightweight to fly long flights, the material of choice is carbon fiber , helping it weighing only 408kg, half the majority of the current SmartCar.

To take off, it uses a slider attached to the crane with four wire pins. At launch, Aquila follows the slider, when the required speed is reached, the latches are opened, and Aquila launches into the air, reaching a test height of 655m.

Several Facebook employees wiped the tears of joy as the plane flew into the air.

"This is a worthy achievement for their two-year effort. The design of Aquila serves a different purpose than it used to be, requiring maximum energy savings, meaning maximum deceleration and still keeping the height." , Facebook speaks at Menlo Park.

Why is the plane?

Self-driving aircraft proved to be the superior solution. Traditional satellite methods can be broader, but only suitable for areas with low population density, increasing users can cause very fast congestion.

Similar to data stations, though suitable for high population density, it is too expensive to build large numbers, including giants like Facebook.

In 2014, Mark wrote a long-term analysis of these solutions. In conclusion, he thinks that high-altitude drones will be best suited for users in medium and suburban cities.

They fly closer to the ground than satellites, for stronger and useful waves with large populations, they fly higher than conventional planes, making it easier to control.

Drone is the perfect choice for global Internet mission.

If Facebook could build a solar drone, it could fly for 90 days, Mark said. Coordinated with the laser communication system, high-speed Internet can be provided within a 50km radius. Aircraft are easier to drive than balloons, Google's solution.

Drones are also cheaper, so the feasibility is also higher. Facebook has also hired many experts from NASA and MIT to realize the project. However, the first experiments failed for two years, according to The Wired.

The road is difficult

Aquila surpasses expectations when flying in the above section with electricity consumption of only 2,000 watts.

Next, they needed the Aquila to fly with "luggage", a laser communication system. This system is claimed to bring the Internet 10 times faster than the standard. Because lasers are more accurate, it will "fire" the Internet to specific regions 16km away.

Facebook has not revealed when Aquila will come into operation, because there are many technical challenges it needs to do. The trial version has not yet been installed with solar panels, must be powered by batteries. Battery design is also what makes them headaches.

After that, the price of money is also a problem, Aquila will need to be cheap to popularize, requiring more efficient battery technology, increased durability to reduce maintenance costs, and automatically reduce the cost of personnel. force.

In addition, they also need to pass several rules to be allowed to freely fly the volume of drones that provide data.

Facebook claims to not want to build its own Internet system, they want to register the technology, or even give it to companies, government agencies or NGOs.

It is not known how public agencies will embrace this idea, because Facebook has historically had a poor history with governments. Their free Free Basic Internet program is banned in India, because of suspicion of affecting Internet neutrality, when Facebook can control what users see on that network.

Aquila's biggest barriers lie on the ground, laws and legal corridors.

Mark is still confident to overcome these doubts, he said, world leaders like the idea very much, it is because of support, reasonable legal corridors are key keys to public project.

Although there are still many challenges, Mark believes in a future where everyone has the Internet, good and cheaper.

"This scenario will narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. Millions of planes bring Internet to every land. You don't expect a company like Facebook to do this, we're not an airline, but there are Maybe we are becoming that factory ".