'SkyBender' Project Taking Place At Spaceport America

In a time not too far in the future, you could get your Internet service from Google delivered from high-altitude UAVs.

And the project, called 'Skybender' is progressing, with a series of prototype transceivers being tested at Spaceport America in New Mexico, according to information obtained by the U.K. newspaper The Guardian via a Freedom of Information Act request.

The paper reports that Google is using some of the hangar space that will eventually be used by Virgin Galactic at the spaceport. The company has installed a dedicated flight control center at the Spaceflight Operations Center on the field.

The system being tested by Google would be a millimeter wave 5G service that is 40 times faster than the 4G service currently used by most cellular carriers, according to the report. The major stumbling block is that the 28GHz frequency for the 5G service has about a tenth the range of 4G, so the company is testing a 'phased array' system for the service.

The aircraft being used for the testing are an optionally-piloted Aurora Centaur aircraft based on a Diamond DA42 platform and company's Titan drones.

Currently, the aircraft have exclusive use of the Spaceport's runways. The testing will eventually expand to fly over the nearby White Sands Missile range, according to the report.

(Top image provided by Spaceport America. Lower image from file)

FMI: www.google.com, www.spaceportamerica.com