Google's giant floating balloons to bring internet to Kenya in Africa

21 Jul 2020

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Google’s giant floating balloons to bring internet to Kenya in Africa

Google’s giant floating balloons to bring internet to Kenya in AfricaThe US company Alphabet, which owns Google, has started a project in East Africa to bring the internet to remote areas in the region.

In this project, they send out giant balloons into space. These balloons would give internet connectivity to people in isolated areas of the world.

Now, the project named 'Loon' has been launched in Kenya. Loon is partnering with Telkom Kenya for the launch.

They have launched 35 balloons which will be travelling constantly above eastern Africa. The balloons were launched from Puerto Rico and Nevada in the United States.

Loon’s service will cover an area of 50,000 square km of isolated regions in Kenya.

How do Loon's balloons work?

These balloons will work in the same way as a cell tower.

The huge balloons, made of plastic, have antennas that connect to stations on the ground. They create a network with other balloons. Tests have shown that the internet speed is as good as current LTE/4G networks

Loon's balloon can cover up to 200 times the distance that an average cellphone tower can. Each balloon can stay in the air for 100 days, flying twice as high as commercial aeroplanes.

However, for now, as it is solar-powered, the balloon service will work only between 6 am to 9 pm local time.

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