LOON & AQUILA

About half the worlds population is not connected to internet is what these two Software giants had
to say when Google came with its Project Loon, and Facebook with its Aquila. Both these companies
were on the news for various projects, Facebook for its ambitious Internet.org and Google with its
SelfDriving Vehicle and its Glass.

What is Loon and Aquila?

In 2013, Googles secretive lab behind projects like Google Glass and Googles self-driving cars,
Google X, announced their project, Project Loon, one which was never tried before and one which
many believed to be crazy. Google had already developed prototypes of their crazy project. They
began testing with 30 of these balloons in New Zealand.

Facebook wasnt far behind. They started their version a year later, codenamed Aquila. Its first
successful flight was completed in June 2016, two years later. It is a full-scale drone which Facebook
uses to provide internet access to people around the globe.

Equipment on board Loon and Aquila

Loon balloons are sheets of polyethylene, which are designed and manufactured to travel in
Stratosphere, about 20km from the earth surface and last more than 100 days in a region of our
atmosphere where, winds can blow over 100 km/hr and the thin atmosphere offers little protection
from UV radiation and extreme temperatures, which can reach as low as -90C.

The loon balloons carry a redesigned, light weight cell tower to the required height. The entire
equipment runs on solar energy, using solar panels to power daytime operations and charge batteries
simultaneously for use during night. A number of such balloons function together to provide internet
access to people over a certain area.

Aquila, on the other hand is a full scale drone, with a wingspan wider than a Boeing 737, but
weighs less than 450 kg, thanks to its carbon fibre body. Similar to the Loons, even its operating
region is about 20km above the earth surface. The Aquila is supposed to stay airborne for months at
a time, three as of now.

It uses solar energy, and again just like the Loon, to power it in the daytime and to charge the
batteries for night. Engineers at Facebook say the Aquila requires as much power as 3 hair dryers to
fly at 60000 feet. Aquila will carry a communications payload that will use lasers to transfer data
more than 10 times faster than existing systems. It will be able to aim its beams precisely enough to
hit a dime more than 11 miles away while in motion. A fleet of solar airplanes will stay in the
stratosphere providing internet access to people within a 30-mile radius.

Control

Loon balloons are helium filled balloons which travel in the Stratosphere, at about 20km from the
earth surface. Here, the wind is laminar (is layered), which means each layer of wind will have
different velocity. So, Project Loon uses predictive models of wind and engineers of the Project
came up with a decision-making algorithm to direct the balloons up or down into the required layer
of wind, moving in the right direction. Googles balloon navigation system gives its balloons fresh
set of instructions every 15 minutes to guide them to the right height.

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Vedang Pavanje
vedangpavanje@gmail.com
LOON & AQUILA
Aquila has no problems which worry Google, because it doesnt depend on the nature to steer their
planes. Instead, it has a team of engineers, pilots and technicians to direct, maintain and monitor the
aircraft. They can send Aquila on a GPS-based route or control the flight through a software which
allows them to determine heading, altitude and airspeed. Aquila uses automated take-off and landing,
to eliminate the chances of human error. The plane is a very slow one, says Mark Zuckerberg, in his
article, with a speed less than 80 mph. In regions as high as the Aquila flies, speeds can reach 80
mph.

Which is better?

Both the Loon and Aquila are still in their development stages, which is why declaring one as better
than the other is a difficult job.

Loon is extremely light, uses way less power than the Aquila, but depends on the winds to steer it,
which might have variations from time to time, which decreases its accuracy unless it is monitored in
real-time.

Aquilas position doesnt depend on the winds in the stratosphere, but is larger, heavier than the
Loon balloons, which means more power requirement to stay in the air. Also, Facebook says it
requires a team of engineers to control it, which makes it expensive, an issue which the Aquila team
has to address.

So, as of now, its great to see two of the biggest software companies coming up with beautiful
projects as these, doing something useful for the society.

References:

Project Loon, https://www.solveforx.com/loon/

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/534986/project-loon/

Aquila, https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/the-technology-behind-
aquila/10153916136506634/#

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/31/facebook-finishes-aquila-solar-powered-
internet-drone-with-span-of-a-boeing-737

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Vedang Pavanje
vedangpavanje@gmail.com