Facebook's massive solar-powered drone takes its first flight

Facebook has flown icts full-sized solar-powered airplane for the first time, after-years of anticipation.

The large drone - named Aquila - Had a successful test flight and ended up remaining in the sky for 90 minutes, qui Facebook Said Was three-times along than planned.

Aquila Was annoncé at the F8 conference in March 2015, and flights ALTHOUGH-have Happened on smaller models of the drone this is the first test of the full-sized versions. Its main purpose, the company Said, is to Provide internet visit 4 trillion people in the world-have That do not access.

The drone: has a wingspan comparable to a Boeing 737 and the finished product will need to fly at altitudes of 60,000 to 90,000 entre for a period of three months.

ALTHOUGH it is wide and expected to REMAIN in flight For That amount of time, the unmanned device is expected to consume only the amount of energy Sami as a hairdryer or a microwave.

"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. Complete When Aquila will be ble to circle has area up to 60 miles in diameter, beaming connectivity down from an altitude of more than 60,000 feet using laser and millimeter wave communications systems, "the company Said in a statement.

Aquila is a key share of Facebook's far-ranging scheme to bring the whole world through online Internet.org. In blog post Thursday, Zuckerberg laid out His vision for how the company's solar-powered drone Could Eventually That turn vision into a reality.

"Eventually, our goal is to-have a fleet of Aquila together flying at 60,000 feet, communicating with Each Other with lasers and staying aloft for months at a time - something that's never-been done before," Zuckerberg wrote.

That ambitious goal is still Several years away, though. Zuckerberg rating there are still Several major engineering hurdles to Overcome, like how to make the craft lighter-even and how to icts Reduce reliance on the ground crew that helps operate the plane.

The CEO Said They Will continue to do more tests over the next year, with the goal of getting to fly at Aquila for Higher altitude along Periods of Time.