With the goal of providing an Internet environment to all places on the planet, the Loon hot air balloon has set a record of 312 consecutive flights.
Rune is a project to provide an Internet environment even in areas without communication infrastructure by flying a hot air balloon with a Wi-Fi antenna device in the stratosphere at an altitude of 20 km. X1, a company aimed at researching the next-generation project corresponding to the Google sibling company, started as Project Loon in 2013 and became an independent commercialization under the name Rune in 2018. Commercial distribution began in Kenya in July 2020.
Since it is a project that provides communication infrastructure, hot air balloons are required to fly stably for a long time. Rune has developed a device that can fly more than 100 days with a single shot, gradually increasing the continuous flight time. From November 18, 2018 to July 2, 2019, it has set a record of 233 days for a hot air balloon called P-496.
The record-breaking HBAL703 took off Puerto Rico in May 2019 and flew 312 days until landing in March 2020. At the take-off point located in the Atlantic Ocean, after a long stay over the South American continent, it moves from the South Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. After a long stay in the west of South America, it was finally recovered in Mexico.
The longer the flight time, the lower the cost per flight hour of the rune hot air balloon, so it is possible to do a lot of work at an unprecedented cost. Also, if the flight time is long, the time to stay in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which is difficult to reach, is extended, so that the goal of providing infrastructure to the barren land, which is the goal of the rune, can be achieved.
Rune emphasized that this record breaking is a visible indicator that the flight system to increase flight time is effective. Related information can be found here .