Facebook’s internet drone expansion

24th October 2016 - 09:02 GMT | by Tim Fish in London

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Facebook is pushing ahead with the development of a new solar-powered UAV that will expand internet coverage to remote areas.

The company is developing its Aquila UAV and will add solar cells to the aircraft which will fly solar-powered within the next year.

Speaking at the Commercial UAV Show, Andrew Cox, chief engineer at Facebook, said that the Aquila completed its first flight test lasting 96 mins in June, which was capped to 8,000ft by local regulation.

This test used conventional batteries because the solar panels were not yet fitted. But the intention was to get an accurate aerodynamic

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Author

Tim Fish

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Tim Fish is a special correspondent for Shephard Media. Formerly the editor of Land Warfare …

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