In March this year, Facebook unveiled it’s plans of bringing internet to developing nations like here in Africa using drone technology. The social giant acquired drone manufacturer Titan Aerospace for $60 million and promised to use its products to help spread internet access worldwide. At the Social Good Summit this week, Facebook Connectivity Lab’s Yael Maguire revealed more information about what the social network is hoping to achieve. Maguire told Mashable CEO that these drones would need to be able to fly for months, or even years, at an altitude “above the weather, above all airspace.” For those counting, that’s around 18.2 to 27.4 kilometers above the ground.
Facebook has already launched it’s Internet.org initiative, with other solar based options that can make trips lasting up to five years. Maguire went on to say that a regular-sized drone won’t suffice, so the “planes” will have to be “roughly the size of a commercial aircraft, like a 747. Maguire further explained.
[signoff icon=”icon-username”]” Facebook also has to undergo other regulatory barriers, including how many of the vehicles a single pilot can oversee. At the end of the day, they expect to have one person steering “up to 100″ of the internet-carrying planes at a time. We can’t have one person per plane if we want to figure out how to connect the world,” [/signoff]
