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Google launches balloons at Castle in Internet service test [Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.)]
[September 19, 2014]

Google launches balloons at Castle in Internet service test [Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.)]


(Merced Sun-Star (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 20--Three, two, one ... launch.

Those words echoed through an airfield at Castle Airport early Friday morning as a team of Google officials launched the first of eight high-altitude balloons over Merced County.

The balloons were part of Google's testing for Project Loon, the cutting-edge balloon technology that provides Internet service to rural areas worldwide.

High winds pushed the first launch back by an hour, but by 9 a.m. the first Google balloon soared high above Castle. Project Loon leader Mike Cassidy told the Merced Sun-Star the eight balloons would reach 65,000 feet in an hour, expanding to 65 feet wide and 45 feet tall.



The team of about 10 Google officials met at Castle's airfield just before dawn to pull supplies and cables from an airport hangar. They launched each balloon, which would fly to an undisclosed location in Nevada, at 45-minute to hourlong intervals.

The Mountain View-based company signed an agreement with Merced County to lease a hangar at the airport. It was the second time Google entered into a contract with the county. Google also leased 60 acres of land at Castle in January to develop its self-driving car.


"Castle has been a great partner and super supportive," Cassidy said. "It's a good location in terms of when the balloons travel to the east, they will go to an open space in Nevada where we can recover them." Merced County was also selected by the technology giant because of its proximity to the Bay Area and because there's less air traffic.

Cassidy said Friday's testing was the first time the Project Loon balloons were launched at Castle. However, the team has tested the balloons all over the world, the largest one traveling around the world three times in 120 days.

Google unveiled the balloon-powered Internet program to the public last June.

Project Loon balloons are solar-powered and designed to travel into the stratosphere and be controlled on the ground by Google engineers using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. The signal goes from balloon to balloon, creating an aerial Wi-Fi network.

Google recently used the Project Loon technology to bring the Internet to a school in Brazil.

"Some of those kids have never seen Internet before," Cassidy said, adding that an estimated 4.5 billion people in the world don't have Internet service. Internet access in parts of Africa could help farmers improve crop yields by receiving weather reports, Cassidy said.

Although the concept is to use the giant balloons to bring Internet service to people in remote areas, the balloons could also be used to provide service in times of disaster if traditional Internet providers' services were disrupted.

Matt Stansbury, a Google program manager, said the early-morning balloon launches at Castle were a success.

Stansbury said Project Loon has taken him all over the world, adding that his experience at Castle has been a good one.

"There's a lot of room, and the people here at Castle are very friendly and willing to work with us," Stansbury said. "Because the winds are taking the balloons to the east, we have Nevada next door, which makes it great for us. We can bring the balloons down in Nevada without any issues." Sun-Star staff writer Ramona Giwargis can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or [email protected].

___ (c)2014 the Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.) Visit the Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.) at www.mercedsunstar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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