Facebook to launch internet satellite to boost connectivity

CALIFORNIA, U.S. - In a bid to boost connectivity for billions of people that are still offline across the world, Facebook is believed to be planning to launch its own internet satellite in the year 2019.

The revelation emerged in an application that Facebook has reportedly filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the name PointView Tech LLC.

As per the documents, Facebook is working on launching the satellite dubbed Athena early in 2019.

According to a report in WIRED, the application shows that the project is designed to "efficiently provide broadband access to unserved and underserved areas throughout the world.”

The report also noted that Facebook has confirmed that Athena is their project.

A Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying in a statement, “While we have nothing to share about specific projects at this time, we believe satellite technology will be an important enabler of the next generation of broadband infrastructure, making it possible to bring broadband connectivity to rural regions where Internet connectivity is lacking or non-existent.”

Further, the report cited previous statements, in which Facebook has expressed its goal of connecting billions of underserved people around the world.

However, so far, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company has not had much success with two of its earlier projects.

Last month, Facebook announced that it was abandoning its plan to develop high-flying solar-powered drones called Aquila.

The project, which was launched in 2014 by Facebook, was aimed at delivering Internet to nearly four billion people in remote parts of the world.

Zuckerberg has previously stated that a high altitude platform station (HAPS) system, Aquila’s mission was to connect the world and help people who do not have online access all the opportunities of the Internet.

Before that, in 2017, reports noted that Facebook had discontinued a small helicopter drone project that could temporarily replace cellular services in emergency situations.

Yet, Facebook is not the first company that is aiming to increase Internet accessibility through satellites in low Earth orbit as Elon Musk''s SpaceX and Softbank-backed OneWeb have emerged as two prominent names with similar ambitions.