Facebook's
massive solar-powered drone takes its
first flight
Facebook has flown its full-sized
solar-powered airplane for the
first time, after years of anticipation.
The large
drone — named Aquila — had a successful test
flight and ended up remaining in the sky for 90 minutes, which Facebook said was three-times longer than planned.*
Aquila
was an**unced at the F8 conference in March 2015, and although flights have happened on smaller models of the
drone this is the
first test of the full-sized version. Its main purpose, the company said, is to provide internet to the 4 billion people in the world that don't have access.
The
drone has a wingspan comparable to a Boeing 737 and the finished product will need to fly at altitudes of between 60,000 to 90,000 for a period of three months.*
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