J
Jeff Causey
Guest
Google and Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, have announced a new collaboration to work on technologies to bring Project Loon to France. Although details have not been revealed, Google is looking for expertise from CNES in balloon technology, something the agency has been studying for several decades. Google’s contribution will include some long-duration campaigns to help CNES studies of the stratosphere and ozone.
When first announced, Project Loon was an experiment to bring Internet access to areas without the infrastructure to support traditional connectivity methods. The balloons fly at extremely high altitudes in providing high speed access. Google recently announced new testing of the balloons will be taking place in Australia starting this month, joining ongoing tests in New Zealand.
France does not seem to fit the profile of an underserved area when it comes to Internet access. However, Google has been feeling the sting of several efforts in Europe as officials there seem to have targeted the company. This new announcement may help Google from a public relations perspective.
source: C|NET
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