Project SkyBender: Google's 5G drones deliver Internet 40 times faster than 4G
Google is testing its top-secret 5G drones at New Mexico's Spaceport Authority. The solar-powered aircraft are being tested with the help of Virgin Galactic, a spaceflight company owned by Richard Branson's Virgin.
Google's program, codenamed SkyBender, involves controlling aircraft at Spaceport America, using new technology to deliver data from unmanned aircraft - potentially 40 times faster than 4G.
SkyBender includes several tests of prototype transceivers and drones using millimeter wave radio transmissions, and Google is reportedly paying Virgin Galactic $1,000 a day for the use of a pod at the Gateway to Space.
The SkyBender system is being tested with an "optional pilot" aircraft called Centaur, as well as solar aircraft built by Google Titan, a division formed when Google acquired New Mexico's Titan Aerospace in 2014.
Millimeter wave transmissions occupy the 28GHz frequency range, and although the range is smaller than that of current 4G technologies, the speeds are very fast. According to experts, millimeter wave technology can carry and transfer multiple gigabits of data per second, up to 40 times faster than current 4G LTE systems.
Millimeter wave technology is a theoretical design, and if Google succeeds in its tests, the technology could change how we access the internet.
Project SkyBender is part of experiment to bring cheap internet using balloons. Google operates Project Loon balloons in many parts of the world.
Google has permission from the FCC until July 2016 to conduct 5G drone tests at the Spaceport.
