Aquila: Facebook Shuts Down Internet Delivery Drone Project

Aquila: Facebook abandoned their owned internet-drones system

On June 27th, 2018, Facebook has quite announced about the abandonment of their internet-drones via blog post “High altitude connectivity: The next chapter” as credited by Yael Maguire, a director of engineer at Facebook.

Aquila - the great ambition of Facebook

“Connectivity for everyone, everywhere is one of the great challenges of our generation” Maguire writes. Nearly 4-billion people could not connect to the internet in the world, that would be a challenging race for Facebook along with many other companies and governments to develop the availability, affordability, and awareness telecommunication solutions. Aquila, a high altitude platform station (HAPS) system, is the grand ambition of the world’s leading social network company to be the pioneer providing in this race. An essential part of this project, it is the unmanned aerial vehicle is able to fly anywhere, transmit the internet to the distant places while the traditional methods have not reached.

Aquila - Beautiful design

Started from 2014, every part of the first Facebook-owned drone design, development, and testing, work that was led by talent team in Bridgwater, UK. Many questions posted to Aquila how to maximum cruising speed, achieve optimal flight distance while consuming fuel saving as well as the long-term safety of the system in the air.
Here is prototype Aquila’ leaflet:

According to this publication, Facebook addresses the drone using the giant wingspan which is even larger than a Boeing 737 airplane. Aquila has the impressive energy saving design, only 5,000W of power (about as much as three hair dryers). It would be one of the most energy-efficient systems in the world. This aircraft operates in the stratosphere of the atmosphere with the desirable attitudes between 60,000 and 90,000 ft, where has less dust, less water, no animal and is able to beam the internet signal to people in remote, underserved regions within a 60-miles diameter. Aquila does not own high speed, but the aircraft owes its time in the air extremely respectable, up to 90 days with best endurance speed less than 80 miles per hour.

In 2014, the prototype Aquila gained two successful full-scale test flights, including a textbook landing on “Aquila beach.”

Aquila - Short-lived success and Going forward!

In Yuma Proving Ground in southwestern Arizona in 2016, Facebook recorded the first serious damage. The drone was flying too fast as it approached the ground, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a report issued on June 28, 2016, because Aquila's design generated too little drag it slow down after the taste of wind knocked it off course. Difficulties come up again.
Besides, as Maguire writes: “As we’ve worked on these efforts, it’s been exciting to see leading companies in the aerospace industry start investing in this technology too — including the design and construction of new high-altitude aircraft. Given these developments, we’ve decided not to design or build our own aircraft any longer, and to close our facility in Bridgwater.” Facebook retreated in its aim to make their unmanned flying equipment. Instead, Maguire also revealed about working with other partners like Airbus on HAPS connectivity generally, and on the other technologies needed to make this system work, like flight control computers and high-density batteries.

It is a sad day for Aquila systems, but we also look forward to the fruitful cooperation of the King’ social network and Airbus for the global internet delivery system soon.