I just stumbled on this video from ETH Zurich [1]. They are demonstrating an solar powered drone with unlimited range, as it can recharge during the day and flight battery-powered during the night. BEA Systems has a military prototype that can flight for up to one year [2].<p>I am wondering if such as plane could be used as a 4G/5G relay that could stay indefinitively over the clouds, providing Internet access to rural areas. That would have huge advantages compared to SpaceX's Starlink:<p>* The cost of such drones would be orders of magnitude cheaper than a Starlink satellite. These drones would also be easily serviceable and upgradable.<p>* No need for a new communication protocol and hardware, just use 4G or 5G.<p>* Round-trip-time and connection quality would be significantly better.<p>* Only specific areas could be targeted by these drones. Meanwhile, Starlink satellites are constantly moving on their orbits and have to cover the whole globe to be any kind of useful.<p>* No space debrit.<p>--<p>[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m4_NpTQn0E<p>[2] https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/phasa-35
For shorter-duration service, in a limited area, without problematic wind/weather patterns, and without high-latitude winters (long nights) - yes, drones are superior to satellites. But scaled up...you'd need a load of air bases (drone launch/landing/maintenance locations), good relations with the aviation authorities in lots of countries, and 24/7 interactions with the air traffic control organizations in every country you have drones flying over...even if those are merely in transit. And mobile & legal teams to deal with crashed drones (if only due to local regulations). And...<p>Vs. putting Starlink in space avoids most of those problems. And all possible competitors have launch costs vastly higher than SpaceX offers - providing what Wall Street investment folks see as a very wide, deep moat, to discourage competition.
Google tried that, you may be interested in<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loon_LLC" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loon_LLC</a><p><a href="https://hn.algolia.com/?query=loon&type=story" rel="nofollow">https://hn.algolia.com/?query=loon&type=story</a> -- many, many HN threads