[kictanet] [Skunkworks] Aquila is airborne. If this is not magic, what is?

[Tony White]

Will they not become a hazard for commercial airliners?  A
quick-and-dirty calculation for Kenya shows that we would have about
120 of these buzzing around overhead, each covering an area of about
5000 square kilometres.  I wonder what KCAA will have to say about
this ;)

Cheers,
Tony


On 21/07/2016, Mwendwa Kivuva via skunkworks <skunkworks at lists.my.co.ke> wrote:
> I would want to hear what Ms Ebele, the Head of Public Policy for Africa at
> FB, has to say on plans for the marginalised.
>
> It's beautiful, and audacious too. Aquila is a solar-powered airplane that
> can be used to bring affordable internet to hundreds of millions of people
> in the hardest-to-reach places. When complete, Aquila will be able to
> circle a region up to 60 miles in diameter, beaming connectivity down from
> an altitude of more than 60,000 feet using laser communications and
> millimeter wave systems. Aquila is designed to be hyper efficient, so it
> can fly for up to three months at a time. The aircraft has the wingspan of
> an airliner, but at cruising speed it will consume only 5,000 watts — the
> same amount as three hair dryers, or a high-end microwave.
>
> See the Youtube video: https://youtu.be/eOez_Hk80TI
>
> Regards
> ______________________
> Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
> twitter.com/lordmwesh
>


-- 
Tony White