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Say Hello To Aquila, Facebook's First Solar-Powered, Internet-Beaming Drone

Say Hello To Aquila, Facebook's First Solar-Powered, Internet-Beaming Drone
Facebook

In their effort to reach Internet to the world's farthest corners, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg on Saturday announced the company's first full scale unmanned drone, Aquila, that can beam connectivity from the sky. This is part of the social media platform's Internet.org effort.

Aquila is a solar powered unmanned plane, Zuckerberg, who also announced that he is expecting a baby with his wife Priscilla Chan, said in post on Facebook.

Aquila has the wingspan of a Boeing 737, but weighs less than a car and can stay in the air for months at a time.

Zuckerberg said they've also made a breakthrough in laser communications technology and successfully tested a new laser that can transmit data at 10 gigabits per second -- ten times faster than any previous system, and it can accurately connect with a point the size of a dime from more than 10 miles away.

Here’s a video showing the building of Aquila.

I'm excited to announce we’ve completed construction of our first full scale aircraft, Aquila, as part of our...

Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, July 30, 2015

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.