Google’s parent company is winding down a project that used highflying balloons to provide internet access in hard-to-reach regions of the world.
The project, known as Loon, launched in 2013 and aimed to connect people in remote places where traditional ground-based infrastructure was too expensive or too difficult to install. But Loon, which was overseen by Alphabet Inc., wasn’t able to reduce costs enough to make its business model sustainable, the project’s leader, Alastair Westgarth, wrote in a blog post on Thursday.
“Developing radical new technology is inherently risky, but that doesn’t make breaking this news any easier,” Mr. Westgarth wrote.
Loon’s technology sent gas-filled polyethylene balloons the size of tennis courts into the stratosphere, typically to altitudes of around 60,000 to 75,000 feet. There, onboard communications equipment beamed internet signals back down to earth. The system was able deliver mobile coverage to an area 200 times greater than a typical ground-based cell tower, Mr. Westgarth wrote.
Partnerships brought Loon internet coverage to developing countries and areas affected by natural disasters. In 2015, Alphabet said that Loon would help expand internet access in Indonesia, where two thirds of the country’s 250 million people weren’t online at the time.
