What is Project Loon?
Many of us think of the internet as a global community. But two-thirds of the world’s population does not yet have internet access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters.
Since launching this balloon in New Zealand in 2013 we’ve flown millions of test kilometers around the world trying to learn what it will take to provide connectivity to everyone, anywhere, with balloons.
How does Project Loon work?
Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and the weather. In the stratosphere, there are many layers of wind, and each layer of wind varies in direction and speed. Loon balloons go where they’re needed by rising or descending into a layer of wind blowing in the desired direction of travel. By partnering with Telecommunications companies to share cellular spectrum we’ve enabled people to connect to the balloon network directly from their phones and other LTE-enabled devices. The signal is then passed across the balloon network and back down to the global internet on Earth.
