Facebook's internet drone Aquila completes first test flight

Facebook has completed its first test flight of Aquila - the high-altitude, long-endurance solar airplane.Intending to provide internet to the 1.6 billion people worldwide that don’t have access to it, the social media giant plans to use the solar-powered drone to beam coverage to 60-mile-wide areas on the ground.Aquila will use e-band technology to beam connectivity from the drone to receivers on the ground. Facebook says it has already lab-tested a laser that can deliver data at 10s of Gbps to a target the size of a dime from more than 10 miles away.The company ultimately hopes to have a fleet of Aquilas that can fly for at least three months at a time at 18,300 metres and communicate with each other to deliver internet access.