The real machine of Wi-Fi drone "Aquila" which Facebook delivers the net to the world finally succeeded in the first flight at last

Facebook is advancing Wi-Fi drone machine to deliver the net to 4 billion people who are still in the whole world but are not connected to the Internet yet "Aquila(Akira) 'test flight was carried out. The actual flight with a longer wing than a small airliner is the first one, and the test succeeded successfully. In the future, it seems that a number of tests for actual operation will be repeated.

Aquila's First Flight: A Big Milestone Toward Connecting Billions of People | Facebook Newsroom
http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/07/aquilas-first-flight-a-big-milestone-toward-connecting-billions-of-people/

Facebook takes flight | Facebook 2026
http://www.theverge.com/a/mark-zuckerberg-future-of-facebook/aquila-drone-internet

Flying Aquila: Early lessons from the first full-scale test flight and the ahead | Engineering Blog | Facebook Code
https://code.facebook.com/posts/268598690180189/flying-aquila-early-lessons-from-the-first-full-scale-test-flight-and-the-path-ahead/

The test flight took place on the secret test site in the state of Nevada in the United States, early June 28, 2016. Hanging on a crane, the Wi-Fi drone "Aquila" is placed on the take-off carriage.


Ready and wait for takeoff Aquila. It is an unmanned aerial vehicle with carbon fiber wings and is designed with the aim of keeping flying non-stop for 3 months using electric power obtained by solar panel.


Equipped with four motors and a propeller on the wing. The power consumption during cruising is about 2 kilowatts, which is super energy saving design that consumes only the power of three common dryers.


The night is gradually dawn, the time of the test approaches. Facebook 's Mark Zuckerburg CEO also came as a test for the first test on the actual machine. The factory staff seems to be wrapped in extremely tense air as they woke up at 2 am and watched the test gently.


Aquila starts takeoff with it being placed on a take-off carriage. The wing tip width of the aircraft is about 42 meters, which is wider than about 35 meters of Boeing's small passenger aircraft · 737 aircraft.


Aquila floating in the air. The weight of the aircraft is around 400 kilograms, it is aircraft that enables energy saving and long flight with long wings and light fuselage.


A shot that can clearly see long boomerang shaped wings. Because the main equipment to be installed is only Wi-Fi transmission / reception relation, it seems to be "all wing aircraft" which has no extra fuselage.


The flight on this day was scheduled for 30 minutes, but because I went smoothly, he said that he continued his flight for 90 minutes, three times the schedule. It was said that he had completed his first flight without any trouble, and first he made a good start.


Zuckerburg CEO also expresses this. "I want to honor the staff who spent years of time for the success of the plan."


Aquila flies from 60,000 feet to 90,000 feet (about 18,000 meters to 27,000 meters) at altitudes higher than passenger aircraft and lower than artificial satellites and sends Wi - Fi radio waves from the sky to the ground. In addition to transmitting and receiving data with the base station using the laser light, data seems to be able to deliver a wide range of data by constructing a mesh network by communicating with laser light among multiple Aquila.



Although it is the Internet which can be used as usual in Japan, many undeveloped areas remain in the world in the world. The following map shows the spread of the net by cellular phone network in color, but the 4 G network is popular in some areas of Japan and the United States, South Korea and Northern Europe, and in other areas 3 G or 2G generation communication is main. Furthermore, an area where the radio waves themselves do not reach is also enormously left. Trying to deliver Wi - Fi to such an area is a Facebook Aquila project.


Aquila is planned to be put into practical use after several tests ranging from months to years. Zuckerberg commented on the impression of the first flight "Anyway, it has been a success (laugh) .Test of this hand often fails at first, local staff say that I will come I think that this incident was a big milestone for Facebook and the goal of connecting the world over the Internet. "I talk in an interview.


The situation when Aquila succeeded in the first flight was also made public.

◆ 2016/07/22 17:30 Addendum
A release on the Japanese page on Facebook has also been released.

Successful first flight of the solar aircraft "Aquila (Akira)": Take a big step to connect billions of people | Facebook news room
http://ja.newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/07/aquila_firstflight/