Facebook Confirms It's Building An Internet Satellite

Facebook's next big bet to connect billions of people who are still offline is an internet satellite called Athena. The social media giant has filed an application with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the name PointView Tech LLC for a project designed to "efficiently provide broadband access to unserved and underserved areas throughout the world," according a Wired report. The internet satellite, called Athena, is expected to launch sometime in early 2019.

Facebook isn't the only tech giant looking to offer high-speed internet in remote and inaccessible areas of the world through satellites in low Earth orbit. Elon Musk's SpaceX and Softbank-backed OneWeb share similar ambitions with the former already launching one such satellite -- called Starlink -- earlier in February this year.
"While we have nothing to share about specific projects at this time, we believe satellite technology will be an important enabler of the next generation of broadband infrastructure, making it possible to bring broadband connectivity to rural regions where internet connectivity is lacking or non-existent," a Facebook spokesperson was quoted by Wired as saying.

Facebook's tryst with connecting the unconnected around the world isn't new. The company has been down that road before, only to abandon its projects later. Facebook's high-profile Project Aquila aspired to deliver internet to nearly four billion people in remote parts of the world through high-flying solar-powered drones . The company had begun the mission in 2014 and in 2017, it had also successfully completed its second full-scale test flight. Such solar-powered drones were supposed to fly for months without landing, 60,000 feet above remote areas.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg had hailed Aquila as something "that's never been done before." But several setbacks, and controversies (especially pertaining to its Internet.org project) saw the end of it.
"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," Facebook announced in a blog post in June this year.

July 21, 2018