Facebook is shutting down its Aquila internet drone project

guest · Jun 26, 2018

Facebook is shutting down its Aquila internet drone project
The social network is abandoning its quest to beam LTE from high-flying drones after four years
June 26, 2018
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/26/17507826/facebook-aquila-internet-drone-project-shut-down

Facebook announced today that it’s shutting down its Aquila internet drone project after four years. The news was tucked away in a blog post titled “High altitude connectivity: The next chapter,” penned by Yael Maguire, a director of engineering at Facebook.

Now, instead of building aircraft of its own, Facebook says it will now focus on working with partners on high-altitude internet delivery systems and on policy matters related to securing spectrum and establishing federal rules around the operation of such systems.

“As we’ve worked on these efforts, it’s been exciting to see leading companies in the aerospace industry start investing in this technology too [...] Given these developments, we’ve decided not to design or build our own aircraft any longer, and to close our facility in Bridgwater.”
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guest · Jul 10, 2018

Facebook abandoned helicopter drone project months after first demo
Tether-tenna was grounded last summer after F8 debut
July 9, 2018
https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/9/17550558/facebook-canceled-tether-tenna-drone-internet-f8

The Aquila drone isn’t the only aerial internet project Facebook abandoned in the last year. The Tether-tenna, a small helicopter drone that could temporarily replace cellular service in emergency situations, was discontinued a few months after being shown off at the F8 developer conference in May of 2017, the company has confirmed to The Verge.

The idea was that the helicopter would be able to tether to fiber and power lines in places where cellular infrastructure was damaged, fly skyward, and broadcast a signal from hundreds of feet up in the air.

Tether-tenna was a much smaller scale idea compared to Aquila, which involved ultra-light solar-powered drones that were bigger than a 737, and beamed internet to the ground using lasers. But backing away from both is a sign that, while Facebook still thinks aerial internet is worth exploration, the company doesn’t want to deal with the aerial hardware side of the equation.
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zapjb · Jul 10, 2018

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