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[GK86]

Whole article and a video at the link.

Since then, the payload has evolved into a modular aluminum rig wrapped in a metal-mylar blanket that insulates it from temperature changes and high-intensity ultraviolet rays. It’s suspended below two solar panels that collect all the energy used to power its onboard systems. The entire payload below the balloon looks very much like a miniature satellite, but takes a fraction of the time and money to produce. Google won’t divulge the exact cost, except to say each balloon costs "tens of thousands of dollars."

Google isn’t the only company born on the internet trying to make the transition to internet access provider: Facebook is charting a similar course, launching a number of initiatives (including drones) with the goal of flooding the world with internet service. That raises a troubling question: as the world's internet superpowers use their dominant positions to extend access to the developing world, will they be ensuring that people can reach the web, or just a white-listed portion of it? In India, Facebook's Internet.org partnership — which is often styled as an altruistic endeavor — doesn’t include free access to Twitter, Google, or any other big name company that Facebook might view as a competitor. It’s essentially the antithesis of net neutrality.

When I asked Cassidy if the internet enabled by Loon would be restricted in any way, or if Google would favor its own services, he seemed surprised by the question. "I honestly don’t know. No, it’s the internet, whatever you get on the internet. It opens a Chrome browser and whatever you’ve set as your homepage."

Teller confirmed Loon’s internet would be agnostic — you don't even have to use Chrome — and that it could still benefit Google in the process. "We believe that there is plenty of goodness and plenty of financial benefit in the long run for Google," he told me. "We don’t need there to be some other goal."

You can’t just launch a bunch of balloons and connect the world, though: right now, Project Loon flies primarily over the southern hemisphere. That’s partially a question of where its services are most needed. Compared to the northern hemisphere, the southern half of the planet is far less densely populated, full of remote areas where broadband internet is less likely to reach. These countries also provide a more welcoming regulatory atmosphere. "The southern hemisphere is pretty easy to overfly in terms of air traffic control," says Johan Mathe, a Frenchman in charge of designing Loon’s navigation. "That’s one of the places where there is the least hand off to do."

Using massive data sets from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Google’s algorithms try to decide which currents they should ride to pass over coverage areas. It’s a big data exercise that perfectly fits the company’s core capabilities. Mathe draws a rainbow on the board, a vast array of possible trajectories that each balloon will take based on the wind.

"We only get 15 days of weather data, and after five or six days, the quality degrades. We cannot foresee the future very precisely," explains Mathe. The algorithms he crafts try to begin by hitting a broad target. "As we get closer, we kick in more frequent altitude changes." He shows a recent flight that launched from New Zealand, aiming to overfly a small town in Chile. It travels smoothly for a while, then begins to zigzag its way closer to the destination. "We can observe this kind of tacking pattern, as sailors would do." The balloon passed within 500 meters (about 1,640 feet) of the village and successfully connected to a device on the ground.

The team recently crossed another milestone with its first successful connection test across multiple continents. Balloons launched in New Zealand flew over 9,000 kilometers (about 5,600 miles) to Latin America and delivered an internet connection, then flew back around the globe for another successful connection test in Australia, navigating the balloons within 500 meters of their target locations at opposite ends of the world.

Loon has now conducted tests with Vodafone in New Zealand, Telstra in Australia, and Telefonica in Latin America, and it says it’s working on commercial deals with several new network operators around the globe. These companies already own the spectrum and have the infrastructure in place to market, sell, and bill customers for service. Google gets permission to use the spectrum and provides the cell towers in the sky, sharing the revenue for each new customer with the telco.

...
As Cassidy speaks, his voice rises with excitement, and you can recognize the former startup savant coming to the fore. "Think about it — with 4.5 billion people without internet access, take 5 percent; you’re talking 250 million people," he says. If those people pay just a small portion of their monthly income, say $5 a piece, "you’re going to be in a billion dollars a month in revenue, tens of billions a year in revenue. So it’s good business, too."

 

[subrock]

looks super cool. I'm glad they're making progress and getting closer to a launch. All I kept thinking about during the video is the backlash. I feel like telecoms have a high chance of shunning this. Also, do they have any chance of violating air space?

 

[SteveWinwood]

more pollution!

jk

kind of

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

more pollution!

jk

kind of

That was actually my first thought too.

 

[Tesseract]

more pollution!

jk

kind of

can't be any worse than nitrogen