Loon LLC Project Overview and Implementation

Loon LLC was a project developed by Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google. The project aimed to provide internet access to remote and underserved communities worldwide.

Loon LLC used high-altitude balloons to beam internet connectivity to areas where traditional infrastructure was lacking. This innovative approach allowed for internet access to be delivered to people in even the most remote locations.

The project was launched in 2013 and initially focused on providing internet access to disaster-stricken areas. In 2016, Loon LLC began testing its technology in Sri Lanka, Peru, and Kenya.

Loon LLC's balloons were designed to fly at altitudes of up to 20 kilometers and could stay aloft for up to 100 days.

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Loon LLC's balloons were designed and made by Raven Aerostar, and were based on the Raven Aerostar Super Pressure Balloon. They were composed of polyethylene plastic about 0.076 mm thick and stood 15 m across and 12 m tall when fully inflated.

The balloons were superpressure balloons filled with helium and carried a custom air pump system called the "Croce" that pumped in or released air to ballast the balloon and control its altitude. A small box weighing 10 kg containing each balloon's electronic equipment hung underneath the inflated envelope.

Each balloon's electronics were powered by an array of solar panels that sat between the envelope and the hardware, producing 100 watts of power in full sun. This was sufficient to keep the unit running while also charging a battery for use at night.

The balloons were equipped with ADS-B transponders, allowing them to be publicly tracked by searching for the call sign "HBAL". This made it possible for people to follow the balloons' movements in real-time.

Loon deployed its high-altitude balloon network into the stratosphere, at altitudes between 18 km and 25 km. This altitude layer is advantageous due to its low wind speeds, which are usually recorded between 5 mph and 20 mph.

The balloons used patch antennas to transmit signals to ground stations or LTE users, and some smartphones with Google SIM cards could use Google Internet services. The infrastructure was based on LTE, with the eNodeB component carried in the balloon.

Initially, the balloons communicated using unlicensed 2.4 and 5.8 GHz ISM bands, but they then switched to LTE with cellular spectrum by cooperating with local telecommunication operators.

Loon LLC's operations and testing involved launching balloons from various locations around the world. The first person to connect to the Internet via a Loon balloon was Charles Nimmo, a farmer and entrepreneur in Leeston, New Zealand.

Locals in the Christchurch area were recruited to test the service, with 50 people participating in the pilot testing. They were not made aware of the details, but were asked to attach a basketball-sized receiver to the outside wall of their property.

The technology designed in the project could allow countries to avoid using expensive fiber cable, which would greatly increase Internet usage in developing countries like Africa and Southeast Asia. Alphabet, the parent company of Loon, felt that this would be a significant advantage for these regions.

Google launched about 30 balloons in New Zealand on June 16, 2013, in coordination with the country's Civil Aviation Authority.

The first person to connect and receive Internet access from one of the Loon balloons was Charles Nimmo, a farmer and entrepreneur in Leeston, New Zealand. Nimmo lived in a rural location that was unable to get broadband access to the Internet.

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Locals participating in the testing were not made aware of the details, other than that it had potential ability to deliver Internet connectivity. They allowed project workers to attach a basketball-sized receiver resembling a giant bright-red party balloon to an outside wall of their property in order to connect to the network.

Google launched about 30 balloons in New Zealand in coordination with the country's Civil Aviation Authority from the Tekapo area in the South Island on June 16, 2013. This was the first test of the aerial network.

The technology designed in the project could allow countries to avoid using expensive fiber cable that would have to be installed underground to allow users to connect to the Internet. This would greatly increase Internet usage in developing countries in regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia that can not afford to lay underground fiber cable.

Google tested its balloon-powered Internet access venture in Piauí, Brazil, in May and June of 2014, marking its first LTE experiments and launch near the equator. This was a significant milestone for the project.

In February 2016, Google announced it had achieved a stable laser communication connection between two balloons over a distance of 62 miles (100km). This breakthrough could enable faster and more reliable communication between Loon balloons.

Loon balloons travel through the stratosphere, where the winds are generally stable but quite slow (8 to 32 km/h). The project uses software algorithms to determine where the balloons should go and then moves them to a layer of wind that blows in the required direction.

Project Taara, a legacy of Loon LLC's technology, continues to provide reliable high-speed Internet to the unconnected and under-connected in Africa.

It started its pan-African rollout in Kenya, bridging the digital divide in the region.

Project Taara is also serving to bridge a particularly stubborn connectivity gap of 3.0 miles (4.8km) between Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, across the Congo River.

This technology has proven to be effective in areas with clear climates, but it's not ideal for foggy locations like San Francisco.

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Loon LLC has had its share of incidents and partnerships. In 2014, a Loon balloon crashed into power lines in Washington, United States, causing a brief disruption.

Several incidents have been reported worldwide, including a crash in a field near Bragg City, Missouri, and another in the tea-growing region of Gampola, Sri Lanka. These incidents highlight the importance of careful planning and execution in deploying Loon balloons.

Here are some of the notable incidents:

Despite these incidents, Loon LLC has also made significant partnerships to advance its technology. In May 2014, Google announced a new approach to leasing bandwidth, which would allow mobile operators to use Loon balloons as temporary base stations.

Incidents involving Loon balloons have been reported in various parts of the world.

A Loon balloon crashed into power lines in Washington, United States on May 29, 2014.

New Zealand officials briefly scrambled emergency services personnel when a Loon balloon came down on June 20, 2014.

A South African farmer found a crashed Loon balloon in the Karoo desert between Strydenburg and Britstown in November 2014.

Loon balloons have also crashed in the United States, including a field near Bragg City, Missouri on April 23, 2015, and a residence on Rancho Hills, Chino Hills, California on September 12, 2015.

Here's a list of some of the notable incidents:

These incidents highlight the need for careful planning and execution when deploying Loon balloons in various regions.

In May 2014, Google X laboratories director Eric "Astro" Teller announced a new approach to the project, deciding not to negotiate a section of bandwidth for free worldwide, but instead becoming a temporary base station that could be leased by mobile operators.

Google tested its balloon-powered Internet access venture in Piauí, Brazil, marking its first LTE experiments and launch near the equator, in May and June of 2014.

The project partnered with France's Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) in 2014.

On October 9, 2017, multiple balloons were spotted near Puerto Rico via Flightradar24.

Loon Inc spun off from the project, but it still remained as a project at X until July 2018.

Google launched several balloons from Nevada and positioned them over Puerto Rico on November 9, 2017, as part of an effort to bring 100,000 people online.

Loon was a project by Alphabet to beam internet to rural areas using high-altitude balloons. It was announced that Loon would be shut down on January 21, 2021.

The project was led by Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth, who said that the company couldn't get costs low enough to sustain the business. Alphabet's "X" business unit hatched long-term experimental projects, and Loon was one of them.

Loon deployed its high-altitude balloon network into the stratosphere, at altitudes between 18 km and 25 km. This particular altitude layer of the stratosphere is advantageous because of its low wind speeds.

The company claimed it could control the latitudinal and longitudinal position of its high-altitude balloons by changing their altitude. They did this by adjusting the volume and density of internal gas.

Loon's balloons were possibly constructed from materials like metalized Mylar, BoPET, or a highly flexible latex or rubber material such as chloroprene. The company stated that this particular altitude layer of the stratosphere is advantageous because of its low wind speeds.

Loon's pilot service in Kenya would be shut down in March 2021, but the company said it would pledge $10 million to support nonprofits and businesses in Kenya dedicated to "connectivity, Internet, entrepreneurship and education."

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