I have not been out to our airport in years and I had no idea this project was being developed.  I don't know if our aliens are helping out or not.  

 https://www.cbsnews.com/video/floating-an-idea-to-improve-internet-connections/

This guy gets almost no coverage at all (at least I never heard of him before), I had to play the clip twice to even find out his name (Mikkel Vestergaard). His whole family is dedicated to global health issues, and as the clip brings out, their money goes where their mouth is.  We could use a lot more people like him and his family as opposed to our publicity seeking billionaires.

Noel

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 20223 yr by birdguy

Similar to Project Loon, which didn't work out because, according to Google X laboratories director, Astro Teller:

"despite the team’s groundbreaking technical achievements over the last 9 years […] the road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped."

You used to see the balloons on FlightRadar24 at around 56,000 ft.

Edited December 11, 20223 yr by dmwalker

Project Loon had one fatal problem as I recall. The balloons had to be landed and retrieved
periodically for maintenance and repair so the infrastructure to recover them in remote corners of the world was a huge expense and problem.

Noel

Internet via balloons isn't new by the way. Its been around a while. Project Loon didn't work of course because  financially it was Loony 😂

12 hours ago, birdguy said:

The balloons had to be landed and retrieved
periodically for maintenance and repair

I imagine these new airships will also have to be landed and retrieved periodically but maybe less frequently.

The major difference between the two concepts is that their airships will remain in a tight orbit around their assigned spots and not be subject to the whims of winds.