Google puts its hot air balloons in the closet -

Geeko

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, will put an end to one of its countless projects.

This is Loon, whose goal was to bring the Internet to remote corners of the globe through atmospheric balloons.

A particularly ambitious project which will not be continued by Google.

After 7 years of development, the Mountain View firm finally realized that Loon was not economically viable.

It was in 2013 that Google expressed its desire to bring the Internet to areas poorly or poorly served by conventional telecommunications infrastructures.

A desire that was materialized by the flight of atmospheric balloons serving as connection points to the Internet.

After several years of development and several hiccups, Loon launched its first commercial internet service in July 2020 in Kenya.

Google's 35 connected hot air balloons covered an area of ​​50,000 km².

Prior to that, Loon supplied atmospheric balloons to areas affected by natural disasters.

A gradual stop

The shutdown of Loon will take a few months, especially in Kenya;

“A small group of the Loon team will remain to ensure that Loon's operations end smoothly and safely - this includes the end of Loon's pilot service in Kenya,” says Astro Teller, project manager.

To replace its service, Google has pledged $ 10 million to local associations and businesses active in connectivity, internet, education and entrepreneurship.

As for Google employees who worked at Loon, the Mountain View firm assured that they would be reassigned to other projects within Google or Alphabet.

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  • Kenya

  • Abandonment

  • Internet

  • Telecommunications

  • High Tech

  • Google