| Aquila | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Atmospheric satellite Type of aircraft |
| National origin | United Kingdom (UK) |
| Manufacturer | Facebook Ascenta |
| First flight | 28 June 2016[1] |
| Retired | 26 June 2018[2] |
| Number built | 1 |
TheFacebook Aquila was an experimentalsolar-powereddrone developed byFacebook for use as anatmospheric satellite, intended to act as relay stations for providinginternet access to remote areas.The Aquila first flew on 28 June 2016 with a second aircraft successfully flying in 2017. Internal development of the Aquila aircraft was stopped in June 2018.
Aquila was developed by Facebook's Connectivity Lab.[3] The prototype airframe design and construction was led by Ascenta, aSomerset, England-based company acquired by Facebook in 2014.[1]Several scale models of the Aquila were built and flown to prove the concept prior to the full-scale prototype being built.[3]
Following construction at Ascenta's factory inBridgwater, England, the Aquila prototype was disassembled and shipped toArizona, where it was first flown on 28 June 2016.[1] The 96-minute flight was considered successful. However, during landing, the aircraft touched down short of the intended landing zone and was damaged;[1][4] theNational Transportation Safety Board conducted an investigation into the accident,[5] as the drone suffered a structural failure just before touching down.[4] The aircraft was designed such that a production version would be able to support continuous flight in the stratosphere for 90 days.[6]
Following the crash, the prototype Aquila was modified withspoilers, provision forfeathering the propellers, and refinement of the exterior surface of the aircraft; the second flight took place on 22 May 2017, with the one-hour, 46-minute flight being considered successful.[7]In November 2017, a partnership withAirbus was announced to further development of the Aquila and the "high altitude platform station broadband connectivity system" (HAPS) project.[8]The same month, it was announced that Aquila would be displayed at theVictoria and Albert Museum's spring "The Future Starts here" exhibition in 2018.[9]
In June 2018, asaerospace manufacturers started designing and buildingHAPS, Facebook decided to stop its program to work with partners likeAirbus on HAPS connectivity and their technologies like flight control and high-density batteries.[2] In 2018, it was reported that Facebook and Airbus scheduled test flights inAustralia using the latter's Zephyr drone technology.[10] Zephyr shares the same blueprint with Aquila as it also uses solar power.[10]
The drone had a wingspan roughly the same as aBoeing 737,[1] but weighed only 880 pounds (400 kg).[3] Aquila was offlying wing configuration, the upper surface of the wing being covered insolar cells to power the aircraft's fourelectric motors;batteries, composing half the aircraft's weight, provided power storage for night flight.[1] Aquila was claimed to use the same amount of power as threeblow dryers.[7] While the prototype used a launch trolley to become airborne, production Aquilas were intended to be launched usinghelium balloons, carrying the aircraft to their operational height and releasing them;[3] landings would have taken place on grassy surfaces.[1]
Aquila was intended to fly at altitudes of up to 90,000 feet (27,000 m) during the day,[1] dropping to 60,000 feet (18,000 m) at night, with an endurance of up to three months, providing Internet service to a 50 miles (80 km)-radius area below its flight path;[3] ifcommunications spectrum was assigned for the project, it would allow the 66% ofEarth's surface that has poor or no internet access to be connected.[8] The technology, which used high-bandwidth lasers to beam the Internet to remote locations,[11] was intended to provide access to 4 billion users, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.[12]
Data from Collated from sources in the text above.
General characteristics
Performance
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists