Several tech companies want to provide Internet access to developing nations via drones, satellites and balloons, but they all face obstacles, including getting approval to operate in foreign airspace and use radio spectrum to broadcast signals to the ground. Google already conducted its first tests of Project Loon, using high-altitude balloons, and OneWeb is at work on multiple satellites to deliver the Internet from space. Now Facebook is talking to several countries to create trial Internet broadcasts from drones. Continue reading Facebook in Talks with Foreign Nations to Begin Drone Trials

A Falcon 9 rocket designed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX exploded during a prelaunch test at Cape Canaveral yesterday, destroying a satellite and its payload that was scheduled to launch into orbit on Saturday. The accident marks a setback for Facebook’s effort to bring Internet access to the world. The satellite was a joint venture between the social giant and France’s Eutelsat Communications, part of Facebook’s Internet.org initiative to help get unconnected people online and lower the cost of Internet access. This particular satellite would have reached more than a dozen countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading Rocket Explosion is a Setback for Facebook’s Internet Program

In a first, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) successfully sent a rocket into space and then back to earth, where it landed, standing and in one piece, near the launch site in Florida. For SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, the success marks another major step towards the ultimate goal of sending people to Mars. This is the company’s first flight in half a year; its last rocket launch, carrying supplies to the International Space Station, ended in the rocket’s complete destruction. Continue reading SpaceX Closer to Space Travel with Successful Rocket Mission