Google parent Alphabet cancels Loon project to deliver internet by hot air balloon
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Google LLC’s parent company Alphabet Inc. said today that it’s giving up on the idea of using high-altitude hot air balloons to deliver internet connectivity to the world’s remotest regions.
Alphabet confirmed in a blog post that it’s winding down its nine-year-old Loon project and a two-and-a-half-year-old spinoff company because it can’t find a sustainable business model or willing partners. Loon was originally spun out of Alphabet’s “X” business unit, which is distinct from Google and home to most of its experimental projects.
Alphabet Is Winding Down Loon Internet Balloon Project
A small team will stay on to wrap up Loon s pilot service in Kenya. By Stephanie Mlot
(Photo via Alphabet Inc.)
Alphabet subsidiary Loon, which used high-altitude balloons to create an aerial wireless network, is officially deflated. CEO Alastair Westgarth broke the news in a Friday blog post, revealing that Project Loon will be winding down.
What began in 2011 as a research and development project at Google X has grown into a separate company, working to provide internet access to rural and remote areas across the world. We talk a lot about connecting the