Google’s ambitious plan to bring internet to remote areas of the world through high-altitude balloons, Project Loon is now gearing up to launch its test flights in Australia, The Guardian reported.
As a part of the test, 20 balloons will be launched across western Queensland in December, in partnership with Telstra which will be a first for the country. Telstra will supply base stations to communicate with balloons and access to space on the radio spectrum. The balloons used in project Loon carry high power antennas, that can beam back powerful 4G signals, back on earth.
The project’s goal to have ring of ballons circling the Earth to provide internet to two-thirds of people who currently do not have internet access. This is a step forward for the same initiative after launching it in US and New Zealand.
The project has been in development since mid-2011 by Google X, the same experimental research and development wing of Google which earlier worked on Google Glass and Driverless car.
The current test in Australia, is a follow up of the same event, which happened in New Zealand in June last year.
