The solar 5G drone of Google fell during its test
And while as we recently reported, Google is testing solar-powered drones to bring 5G internet, which is 40 times faster than current technology , one of these drones crashed during a test flight.
The Titan Solara 50, one of Google's 5G drones, fell during a test flight in New Mexico in May of last year. The drone was powered by solar energy and did not stay aloft for long, as it encountered updrafts and one of its wings suffered damage before its crash in the company's test field. This drone was part of Google's broader effort to deliver Internet from the stratosphere.
More than half a year has passed since May 2015 when US accident investigators discovered the cause of the crash: a wing failure. According to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board, on May 1, 2015, the Solara 50 had just taken off from a remote, desert runway in New Mexico when it began experiencing control problems. While the remote operator attempted to stabilize the aircraft, a warm mass of air pushed it upward at a higher speed, according to the NTSB.
The wind ended up pushing the drone at a speed it was not designed for, resulting in damage to the left wing. “The aircraft began an uncontrolled and unpredictable flight path, straight down,” the NTSB wrote in a brief summary posted on its website. “The left outer wing section separated from the aircraft during the first portion of the descent, and the right wing section separated later in the descent.”
After about four minutes of flight, the aircraft hit the ground and was destroyed at 11:07 a.m. local time. Fortunately, the test flight crashed in an uninhabited desert area and no one was injured. Google did not respond immediately to the request for comment regarding the report.
The drone was built by Titan Aerospace, a company led by former Microsoft Corp. executive Vern Raburn, which Google bought last year. According to the company, it has a wingspan of 164 feet (50 meters) and could fly above the clouds for extended periods, from where it could then send Internet signals to the ground, like a satellite.
The drone crash was a blow to Google and everyone involved in the project (including an effort by Facebook) aimed at using solar-powered planes to provide Internet to remote areas.
