Is Facebook really making solar powered drones?  

Yeah.

Well, they are working on it. Facebook, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung have formed a corporate conglomerate called internet.org with the goal of bringing internet access to the two thirds of the global population that is currently “dark”.

Announced last year, the initiative set itself the goal of world-wide connectivity for the remaining 5 billion people who aren’t connected, but details have only recently become public on how they may achieve this.

When people hear the word “drone” their minds usually make negative associations of emotionally detached military applications. In reality drones are simply autonomous robots, usually involving flight. They are just as often used to obtain aerial camera angles at a football or cricket match, or to film a slick new luxury car winding its way along a mountainside.

Is Facebook building drones?

It was rumored last year that Facebook purchased Titan Aerospace, a firm specialising in solar powered drones, which was seen as an odd move at the time.

At an optimal height drones can stay clear of flight paths, run on solar power during the day and utilise charged batteries overnight. In theory solar powered drones could fly for months at a time without requiring maintenance. A mesh of connected drones could easily and cheaply blanket areas with a cellular style connection – similar to a 3G/4G connection on a mobile phone.

Is solar flight really possible?

Engineers at SolarStratos are working on an aircraft that would be capable of reaching heights of 80,000 feet (well above the standard 40,000 used for commercial air travel).

Capable of generating 5kW per hour (and with the aid of a 20kW battery system) the craft would be capable of climbing to an altitude above the clouds (where it’s always sunny!) with the assistance of a single propeller.

At a cost of $105,000 each and with a lack of pressurisation they are currently unfeasible for commercial travel – unless you happen to have a light-weight spacesuit you can bring – but it illustrates proof of concept and would allow flight training and atmospheric testing all powered by the sun.