While Google spent a lot of time during the its I/O developer conference introducing its new mobile and online technology, it didn't touch too much on its biggest endeavor; building a network of Internet balloons that operate around the world.
Google recently gave Bloomberg Business a chance to take a closer look at Project Loon and how it has developed since it was announced in the summer of 2013. The project has gone through two major developments, says Google VP and Project Loon leader Mike Cassidy.
First, Google has partially automated the balloon launching process with a series of 50-foot-tall launcher that it calls the Autolauncher. "The metal and canvas contraptions block the wind, clamp the balloons into place, and provide a perch for the antenna payload, which prevents it from swinging as the balloons take off," Bloomberg reported. "By using the Autolauncher, Cassidy says balloons can be launched with four people every 15 minutes and in winds of up to 15 miles per hour. Before, they could do one balloon every 45 minutes and were limited to wind speeds of 6 miles per hour or less."
Having the ability to release balloons quickly is essential to Project Loon, since it will have to use hundreds of balloons across the sky to make a strong enough network.
The second update will allow Google to improve the connection network by extending the range. Cassidy told Bloomberg that "they have devised a way to pass high-frequency Internet signals from balloon to balloon in midair, which allows individual balloons to roam 400 kilometers to 800 kilometers away from a ground station." The balloons will use what Cassidy describes as a "mesh network" to provide coverage to an entire region without having too many ground stations.
Google has so far conducted tests for Project Loon in Australia, Chile, Brazil, New Zealand and other countries, and Cassidy plans on making the service available to Adrica, Latin America, Southeast Asia and other markets by the end of 2016.
