Project Loon - The Balloon-Powered Internet

Loon LLC was an Alphabet Inc. subsidiary working on providing Internet access to rural and remote areas.

Project Loon began as a research and development project by X (formerly Google X) in 2011, but later spun out into a separate company in July 2018. In January 2021, it was announced that the company would be temporarily discontinued due to lack of profitability.

Internal project and the public announcement :
Unofficial development on the project began in 2011 under incubation in Google X with a series of trial runs in California's Central Valley. The project was officially announced as a Google project on June 14, 2013.


On October 6, 2017, Google filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and cleared it the same day, with authorization to start immediately to provide emergency LTE coverage to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Three components are required for designing a Google Loon Balloon:
1. Envelope
2. Solar panels
3. Equipment

Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) for Navigating Stratospheric Balloons

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is a type of machine learning and artificial intelligence that allows machines to learn from their actions, similar to how humans learn from experience.

Project Loon, while ultimately discontinued, serves as a valuable proof of concept for the potential of using high-altitude balloons to provide internet connectivity to remote areas. despite its challenges, the project demonstrated the feasibility of such a technology and paved the way for future research and development.

[1] N. V. Kadam, A. G. Kadu, and S. S. Dhok, "Internet Through Balloons – A Study," Volume 7, Issue 2, February-2016 ISSN 2229-5518

1. Project Loon The Balloon-Powered Internet Presented By : Manish Dhaye Guided By : Prof. Neha G. Rathi 1 SIPNA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY AMRAVATI

2. Contents : Introduction History Structure of Balloon Working of Project Loon Advantages and Challenges Conclusion References

3. 3 Introduction : Project Loon - network of balloons in stratosphere - connect people in rural areas . Developed By : Alphabet.Inc ( Google’s Parent Company ) A Loon balloon at the   Christchurch   launch event in June 2013 Goal : To create a global internet network by providing reliable & affordable connectivity to billions of individuals who were previously disconnected. Project Loon was temporarily discontinued in 2021 due to the cost per area issue but still research and development is going on to make it more cheaper .

4. History : On 14 th June 2013 , Google announced Loon as an official project . On 16 th June 2013 , A pilot Experiment happened in New Zealand and about 30 balloons were launched . On 6 th October 2017 , An emergency LTE coverage was provided to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of   Hurricane Maria . On 21 th January 2021 , Alphabet announced that Loon would be temporarily Discontinued. 4

5. 5 Structure Of Balloon :

6. Internet Connection Data Signals LTE Signal Customer’s LTE Phone 6 Working Of Project Loon :

7. How AI used in Project Loon : Utilized Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL)  - navigation of stratospheric balloons Deep R einforcement L earning (DRL) = Reinforcement Learning + Deep Learning 7

8. Advantages : Challenges : Flexible Global coverage Rapid deployment High Costs Wind unpredictability Commercial viability 8

9. Conclusion : Project Loon continues its research and development phase, its future remains promising. The technology has proven its potential but faced hurdles that need to be addressed for broader implementation . Continued research and experimentation will be essential to fulfill its goal of providing global internet coverage . 9

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11. References : [1] N. V. Kadam, A. G. Kadu, and S. S. Dhok , "Internet Through Balloons – A Study, " Volume 7, Issue 2,February-2016 ISSN 2229-5518 [2] Google Project Loon, https://x.company/projects/loon/ [3] Google Project Loon, YouTube [4] Loon LLC, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loon_LLC 11

12. Thank You 12