Social networking giant Facebook is set to abandon a project to build a drone to provide internet connectivity to regions with limited access.
The company has been working to develop a high altitude platform station (HAPS) system called Aquila since 2014.
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According to Facebook, the decision is driven by increased investments made by leading aerospace companies in similar HAPS technology.
Facebook said in a blog post: “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.
“Going forward, we’ll continue to work with 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.”
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By GlobalDataIn July 2016, a prototype of Aquila completed its first test flight in Yuma, Arizona.
Designed to fly for up to three months at a time, the solar-powered aircraft requires 5,000W of power during cruising.
Aquila completed its second full-scale test flight in May last year.
However, Facebook never managed to deploy the aircraft for commercial service.
