Meet Aquila, Facebook’s solar powered answer to providing Internet connectivity to underserved communities and areas where access to the web isn’t available.
Created by the social network’s Connectivity Lab, Aquila has the wingspan of a Boeing 737, but weighs less than a car. The monocoque wing is constructed from a cured carbon fiber that has three times the strength of steel, but is lighter than aluminium.
The craft will cruise at an altitude of around 90,000 feet during the day while the solar cells recharge Aquila’s batteries. At night, Aquila’s altitude will drop to 60,000 feet to take advantage of gravitational potential energy to consume less power. In both instances, the craft will be well above commercial air traffic and adverse weather.
One of the cutting edge technologies to be used with Aquila is free space laser communications, which will be used for transmitting data between a group of these aircraft. The system can transmit data at tens of billions of bits per second (Gbps). Facebook says the rate is around that of a fiber-optic network, only in this case it’s happening through the air.
A ground station will transmit a radio Internet signal to a “mother” aircraft, and that aircraft will then repeat the signal to others within the constellation using the laser technology. Those aircraft will beam radio Internet signals back to the ground. Receiver towers and dishes will convert the signals into a Wi-Fi or LTE signal; providing Internet access to people in the surrounding area.
The system that guides the lasers has to be incredibly accurate. The project’s Engineering Lead of Aviation Laser Communications, Chien Chen, said it had to be able to “hit a dime” (~18.5 millimeter diameter) from more than 6 kilometres away.
Each aircraft within the constellation can create a 50-km communications radius for up to 90 days; powered purely by the sun.
Facebook says test flights for the full-scale prototype should occur later this year.
“We’re proud of the progress we’ve made so far,” says Facebook’s Yael Yael Maguire. “In 14 short months, we’ve designed and built an aircraft from start to finish and made great strides in developing the technology required to distribute high-capacity data streams through the air.”
Aquila is part of the Internet.org project, which has a goal of making affordable access to basic internet services available to every person in the world. Other Internet.org partners include Ericsson, Nokia, Qalcomm and Samsung. Internet.org is already providing free basic Internet services to people in 17 countries.
