This New Scientist article - Balloon beams broadband internet from stratosphere - says "a blisteringly fast data downlink provided by a stratospheric balloon floating 24,000 metres above the Earth has been tested for the first time.The untethered, 12,000-cubic-metre helium balloon was tested on 31 August for several hours. Analysis now shows the test was a success and sent data to the ground at 1.25 gigabits per second. That is thousands of times the capacity of a home broadband internet connection and the first time such a link has been tested from the stratosphere.The test craft was developed by the Capanina Consortium – 14 European academic and industry partners funded mainly by the European Union. They hope the craft may be able to provide communications in disaster zones or low-cost internet access in the developing world".The article also has video footage (28MB Mpeg) recorded at the test site.
So, are we going to get our fast downloads through balloons now rather than the low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites? Whatever happened to the Gates consortium on this? Any news anyone? (Ed)
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