Facebook Connectivity Lab’s Aquila Aircraft Takes Flight

Nearly one year ago, Facebook announced that its Aquila high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft was ready for flight testing, and the social network took the next step Thursday.

Nearly one year ago, Facebook announced that its Aquila high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft was ready for flight testing, and the social network took the next step Thursday.

Global head of engineering and infrastructure Jay Parikh announced in a Newsroom post that the first full-scale test flight of Aquila was a success.

Aquila is one of the projects spearheaded by Facebook Connectivity Lab to further Internet.org’s mission of connecting everyone in the world to the Internet. Parikh described it as follows:

Aquila is a solar-powered airplane that can be used to bring affordable internet to hundreds of millions of people in the hardest-to-reach places.

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