Facebook's revelation comes after reported upheaval at the Aquila project. It lost its long-time head, Andrew Cox, in May, and had been briefing partners about a potential redesign of its drones last year. But, Facebook said it isn’t abandoning these efforts entirely.
It says it will now focus on building specific components like batteries and control computers for other aerial vehicles - but it will no longer build these aircraft itself.
“We’ve decided now is the right moment to focus on the next set of engineering and regulatory challenges for HAPS (High Altitude Platform Stations, the technical term for aircraft like the Aquila drone) connectivity,” Facebook’s director of engineering, Yael Maguire wrote in a blog post. “This means we will no longer design and build our own aircraft, and, as a result, we’ve closed our facility in Bridgewater.”
In 2014, Facebook acquired a UAV company based in Bridgewater for nearly $20 million, with its head – Cox – becoming the founder and leader of the Aquila project.
But the decision to close the Bridgewater facility where the drones were being developed means that a reported 16 staff have been laid off as a result.
“While our focus in HAPS connectivity has shifted, we remain as committed as ever to addressing the three main barriers to connectivity: availability, affordability, and awareness,” Maguire wrote.
“We’ve already connected nearly 100 million people via our efforts, and we are continuing to invest in developing a variety of next-generation technologies and programmes – ranging from Express Wi-Fi to new technologies like Terragraph – that can help connect the almost four billion people in the world who still do not have access to the internet.”
