Alphabet’s high-altitude internet Loon balloon sets new flight record over the stratosphere

October 29, 2020

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Alphabet’s (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) subsidiary, Loon (formerly Project Loon by Google), achieved another step toward its goal to provide affordable internet access to billions of people located in far-flung areas of the world.

One of the

company’s high-altitude internet Loon balloons, the HBAL703 set a new record of 312 flight days over the stratosphere, longer than the previous flight record of 223 days held by another Loon balloon.

In a blog post, Loon CTO Salvatore Candido said they launched the HBAL703 from Puerto Rico in May 2019, navigated the U.S. territory, and then provided internet test service for three months. After that, they sent the Loon balloon south to circumnavigate the globe. It floated over the Pacific Ocean for another seven months until it finally landed in Baja, Mexico in March 2020.

“This new duration record is exciting not because we flew one balloon for 312 days, but because it is a very visible indicator that our efforts to make all of our flight systems last longer is working,” said Candido.