Google Project Skybender Plans to Beam 5G Internet from Solar Drones

According to a latest report, Google has a new top secret project by the same team that brought us Project Loon. The new project is called Project Skybender, and it aims to deliver 5G internet from solar drones. Mountain View has reportedly begun experimenting with millimeter wave-based internet in Virgin Galactic’s Gateway to Space terminal at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Google Project Skybender Plans to Beam 5G Internet from Solar Drones

Millimeter waves are believed to be capable of transmitting data 40 times faster than LTE and could become the technology behind 5G internet. The problem with millimeter wave transmissions is that they fade after a short distance and can’t compare to a mobile phone signal’s range. That’s likely one of the issue’s Google is trying to solve if it aims to beam internet from the sky.

In order to house the drones and support aircraft, Google is temporarily using 15,000 square feet of hangar space in the glamorous Gateway to Space terminal.

Project Skybender is currently using an “optionally piloted aircraft (OPA)” called Centaur and a solar-powered drone called Solara 50 made by Titan Aerospace, which the Big G snapped up in 2014, for its tests. Google has permission from the FCC to continue testing the drone-internet system in New Mexico until July