One
of Google’s internet balloons, also called Project Loon, was spotted
over Yellowstone National Park last week. The balloon was first spotted
by aviation researcher
Jason Rabinowitz, and also reported by
ReCode.
Project
Loon, which is a division of the Google parent company Alphabet’s
moonshot factory, aims to provide internet connectivity to remote areas
of the world that don’t have access to an internet signal. The
organization uses huge balloons to create a wireless network in the sky
that can beam the web down in places that lack stable high-quality
Internet connections.
The
balloons themselves are essentially a network of solar-powered,
airborne cell towers floating at a height between 60,000 to 90,000 feet,
or roughly twice as high as planes fly. The network draws its own
connectivity from ground stations and passes it on balloon-to-balloon.
People then connect to the balloon using a phone or other 4G/LTE-capable
device.
In February, the
nation of Sri Lanka said
that it would test 15 of Google's Loon balloons while countries like
Indonesia and Australia are also experimenting with the technology.
The
balloon floating over Yellowstone is likely part of a test that is
taking place in Winnemucca, Nev., which is roughly 600 miles away from
where the dirigible was spotted. Test balloons have also been spotted
over Puerto Rico and Kansas.
In a
recent navigation test,
Project Loon balloons were deployed over Peru to test new artificial
intelligence technologies that would keep the balloons in a specific
region.
A spokesperson for Google declined to comment on the Yellowstone balloon.
It’s unclear whether the balloon was authorized to fly over the U.S. National Parks. Park regulations generally
ban all types of aircrafts, which includes drones. However, balloons are not in the same category of aircraft as a drone.
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