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Alphabet is shutting down Loon, its division that supplies the Internet from floating balloons, according to an article on Alphabet’s moonshot X division blog.
“The road to commercial viability has turned out to be much longer and riskier than expected,” Astro Teller, who runs X, wrote in the blog. “In the coming months we will start to shut down operations and it will not be another bet in Alphabet.”
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, launched Loon in June 2013, and Loon transitioned from an independent company within Alphabet in 2018. Loon launched its first commercial internet service in Kenya in July, consisting of a fleet of about 35 people. balloons that covered an area of about 50,000 square kilometers. Loon has also provided internet services in areas affected by natural disasters, deploying balloons in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and in Peru following an earthquake in 2019.
Teller says Loon is working to place employees in other roles at X, Google, and Alphabet. “A small group of the Loon team will remain to ensure that Loon’s operations run smoothly and safely – this includes the downsizing of Loon’s pilot service in Kenya,” said Teller. Loon’s service in Kenya will last until March, X spokesperson said The edge. To support people in Kenya who might be affected by the loss of Loon’s service, Loon pledged $ 10 million to support nonprofits and businesses in Kenya dedicated to “connectivity, internet, entrepreneurship and education ”.
Loon isn’t the only moonshot that Alphabet has shut down. He ended Makani, which aimed to use wind turbines attached to kites to create renewable electricity, last year. And the Foghorn Project, which was researching how to create clean fuel from seawater, completed work in 2016.
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