On June 15, 2013 Google announced Project Loon– an attempt to provide schools in developing countries Internet connectivity via high–altitude balloons. A year after announcing the initiative, Google’s balloons are off to a promising start, “we’ve definitely crossed the point where there’s a greater than 50 percent chance that this will happen,” explains Astro Teller, head of the Loon initiative.
The result Google is seeing from balloons are promising, even providing internet to a school in rural Brazil. One balloon has been floating for more than 100 days and is still flying. Another balloon circumnavigated the globe in 22 days, which is a world record. Google hopes to be providing regular Internet connectivity to schools in at least one developing country by June 15, 2015. | Find out more about this high–flying initiative on Wired