Yesterday, Google tests giant balloons that beams Internet to earth below it and connect 50 test users of Canterbury area, New Zealand to the internet. It says the technology could bring web-surfing to remote corners of the world, underserved and places where cost of internet is high.
Google says, it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. the company has built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today’s 3G networks or faster.
Project Loon is developed by Google[x] lab - a secret facility run by Google and is the same facility which is also behind launch of driverless car and much popular Google Glasses
Using loon project balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and underserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters. However, the critics also making speculations that it is another NSA (National Security Agency), USA backed program to keep an eye and steal data from other countries.
How Loon Works
Balloons sailing high uses wind and solar energy for sailing and powering up the device. Google launched around 30 balloons in a week to test pilot in New Zealand.
'Project Loon' balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and the weather. They are carried around the Earth by winds and they can be steered by rising or descending to an altitude with winds moving in the desired direction. Currently Google use wind data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Thereafter, a custom-designed Internet antenna which is also like balloon shape attached to a user's house allows them to receive Internet service from Project Loon. The signal bounces from balloon to balloon, then to the global Internet back on Earth.
In future, Google will testing the internet balloons in other countries as well but with the same latitude as New Zealand.
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