At the time of writing this article, a Google’s Project Loon balloon is in flight, reported at 60,000 ft (18km) up in the sky, somewhere near Nkawkaw in Ghana, thanks to a live feed from FlightRadar24.
I am fond of once in a while tracking what’s flying in Ghana’s airspace. And lo and behold, I see this Project Loon flight with a “No Callsign”.
UPDATE: The balloon has been flying close to Akosombo as at 16:00 GMT, 25 Dec.
It is unlikely anyone on the ground can spot it in the skies, provided it is up some 60,000 feet (about 18 km high)
Since there’s been no public word on this flight, I guess it was supposed to happen under wraps. However, since almost nothing hides from the peek of Flightradar, there we go.
It was the only item in Ghana’s airspace at the time of writing this piece. Ghana has a relatively boring airspace, so any ‘foreign’ movement is easily spotted.
Project Loon
In case you’re wondering what Project Loon is, think of it in the basic way as Google’s attempt to bring good internet access to regions of the world that lack access.
“More than half of the world’s population is still without Internet access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to extend Internet connectivity to people in rural and remote areas worldwide.” – x.company/loon
How would one get connection from this flying balloon?
“Signals are transmitted from the balloons directly to LTE-enabled devices. Web traffic that travels through the balloon network is ultimately relayed to our local telecommunications partners’ ground stations, where it connects to pre-existing Internet infrastructure.”
Visit x.company/loon to learn more about the technology behind the Project Loon.
Conclusion
You can track the live flight by following this link: https://fr24.com//ff004b9
Anyone living near the area shown in the map above, are you able to get any signals from the loon in the skies?
Let us know in the comments below.
