Google’s Balloon-powered Internet

Google’s balloon-powered Internet for all aka Project Loon is closer to launch. The official Google Plus page for Project Loon put out a new video which showcased how far the project has come from when it was initially announced in 2013. Google plans to partner with local Internet and Telecom providers to build on its mission.

For starters, Project Loon hopes to provide Internet access to remote areas of the world by floating a balloon sent to the stratosphere. The balloons carry antennae linked to ground base stations.

In the latest video, Google has showcased how far Project Loon has grown. The ProjectLead Mike Cassidy offers a look into the challenges the project faced: for instance manufacturing more than one balloon a day was a task but Google has solved this with its in-built manufacturing. Also in the initial phase, the balloons wouldn’t stay up for very long and Google found it tough to manoeuvre them.

Now Google has sorted out these issues and can launch close to a dozen balloons in a day. The balloons are manoeuvred once they are in the stratosphere and Google can track the exact location of balloon, the exact timing when a balloon goes down and when another one replaces it.