Google wants to put its Internet balloons to the test again

Nov 17, 2014 13:23 GMT  ·  By

Google is getting ready for a new round of testing for its Project Loon, the balloons that provide wireless Internet to remote locations. It looks like the company is planning to launch the new testing campaign in western Queensland, Australia.

The entire process will take place in partnership with Telstra, a local telco, sometime in December. This is yet another step in the company’s plans to activate Project Loon at a larger scale.

ZDNet reports that for the trial Telstra will be supplying base stations to communicate with the balloons, as well as access to space on the radio spectrum. These are necessary so the balloons can create the network necessary for them to interconnect and beam wireless Internet to the ground.

Google’s balloons carry antennas that can beam 4G-like signals to homes from the covered area, as well as phones, some 20 kilometers below. These spread out in the shape of a net and connect to each other and to the base station, and navigate the winds to keep their spots, climbing and descending as necessary.

Lovely area for net balloons

This isn’t the first time that Google has tested out its new project in the area. In fact, the first trials took place above Christchurch in New Zealand in June last year, at which time Google said that it was drawn to the favorable stratospheric conditions in the area. Ever since then, multiple tests have taken place and the balloons even flew a lap around the world in 22 days.

The ultimate goal of Project loon is to have a ring of balloons circling the Earth and providing Internet to some two thirds of the people that are currently not connected to the Internet. Google’s larger project involves providing Internet to remote locations that are not reached by the traditional cable systems, and therefore increasing the number of Internet users in the world, a goal that Facebook has also been contributing to.

Officially, however, Google wants to focus its flying balloons on providing Internet access to areas stricken by catastrophes to help out people in the area that may no longer have access to a local network and who may want to get in touch with loved ones. So far, the company has yet to put this idea to the test, but it’s clearly a goal that would be easily accessible once Project Loon has a backbone and can stand on its own.

Photo Gallery (5 Images)

Project Loon will go through another test
This time, it will be above AustraliaGoogle's Loon balloons before taking off
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