Facebook launches 'Aquila' Solar-Powered Plane

Facebook has launched a Solar-powered aircraft called 'Aquila'. In a note on Mark Zuckerberg's page suggested that the first flight was on June 28th. The idea is to have their planes/gliders to stay aloft for so long that they make beaming internet to remote and uncovered regions a possibility. The flight took place before dawn in Yuma, Arizona. Our original mission was to fly Aquila for 30 minutes, but things went so well that we decided to keep the plane up for 96 minutes. We gathered lots of data about our models and the aircraft structure -- and after two years of development, it was emotional to see Aquila actually get off the ground. But as big as this milestone is, we still have a lot of work to do. Eventually, our goal is to have a fleet of Aquilas flying together 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.

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