Facebook breaks into the drone business – for charity?
Facebook Inc. is rapidly increasing its Connectivity Lab project by adding over a dozen new jobs for aeronautical and thermal engineers, as well as other technicians and specialists.
The purpose of the new hires? Drone development.
The new drone team will be divided between Facebook Inc.’s Menlo Park, California, headquarters and its office in London, England.
The team will be developing drones for Facebook Inc.’s charity project, Internet.org, whose mission is to bring cheap internet access to everyone, especially developing countries who lack the proper infrastructure for widespread connections.
At an Internet.org summit held in New Delhi, India, last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the reason for Internet.org’s existence.
“Connectivity can’t just be a privilege for some of the rich and powerful,” Zuckerberg said. “It needs to be something that everyone shares, and an opportunity for everyone.”
Wireless modems in the sky
In their current concept, the drones would fly very high above the ground – between 60,000 and 90,000 feet, which is higher than commercials planes commonly fly – and “beam” internet down to the ground wirelessly.
Yael Maguire, the engineering director at the Connectivity Lab, said in an interview with Mashable in September that Facebook’s drones would be less like the common quadcopter drones and more like small airplanes.
Maguire said the drones would run off of solar power and could be in the air for months or even years at a time without ever landing.
According to Maguire, one of the issues facing the program is the “regulatory risk” because there are no rules regarding drone flight at that altitude or beaming internet connectivity down from such aircraft.
Drones – delivering internet and pizza
The drone industry has seen a massive increase in interest over the last few years, with more and more big companies announcing plans to take to the skies.
Amazon.com Inc. recently started hiring drone pilots for a project that would use drones to make same day deliveries in select cities. Earlier this year, Google Inc. also began testing out drones as a delivery method.
Even Domino’s Pizza tested pizza delivery with drones last year. It’s unclear if you’re expected to tip them or not.
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