Facebook drone made successful maiden flight in Arizona

Facebook drone made successful maiden flight in Arizona Facebook announced today that its network delivery drone Aquila...

Facebook announced today that its network delivery drone Aquila had successfully made its maiden flight at a military airport in Arizona on June 28. While Facebook engineers have been testing a fifth-size Aquila for months, this is the first successful test flight of a full-size Aquila. Aquila's maiden flight lasted 96 minutes at low altitude, more than three times Facebook's previous expectations. Facebook founder and CEO Zuckerberg was also present to witness the moment.

Aquila is powered by solar panels and can theoretically fly for up to 3 months at a time at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour. Although its wingspan is close to that of a Boeing 737 aircraft, it weighs only 453 kilograms. When in cruise mode, it consumes only 5,000 watts of power, which is equivalent to three hair dryers or a microwave oven. According to the design plan, this drone can fly at an altitude of 18,000 meters, using laser and millimeter wave technology to push the Internet to remote areas that cannot be reached by traditional network equipment, with a network coverage radius of 96 kilometers.

Facebook will continue to test and advance the performance of Aquila in the future. The current battery life record for solar-powered drones is two weeks, and Aquila still needs to undergo a lot of follow-up research and development to reach Facebook’s expectation of a battery life of up to three months. By comparison, Google's network of balloons can float high in the stratosphere for six months. However, to use the network pushed by Facebook, antennas still need to be set up on the ground to convert the signal pushed by the drone into a Wi-Fi or 4G network. This means that if the local area is unwilling to set up antennas to receive signals, it will not be able to access the Internet. Likewise, Google's balloon project must get approval from local governments.