Project Loon: Google asks for Airspace access for the internet read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/1129-project-loon-google-asks-for-airspace-access-for-the-internet

Google, which is hoping to beam the internet to remote areas of the world via balloon, went before the UN's aviation agency to ask member states to let it ply their airspace.

Google X Lab, which was created to pursue big-vision projects, said it hopes to establish a network of helium balloons floating in the stratosphere that will emit a powerful 4G signal to rural and difficult to access areas.

The ambitious initiative debuted in 2013 under the name "Project Loon" and saw its first balloon launch in February in South Africa. The balloon force landed over a tea plantation in Sri Lanka.

The Alphabet, the parent company of Google, had partnered with Sri Lanka to bring the internet to remote areas there.

Project Loon has significantly improved the balloon design, manufacture and launch procedure, X Lab told the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Project Loon was able to model the stratosphere's air flow, allowing its balloons to change altitude to 'catch' the winds moving at the speed and direction necessary to a given service area.

Alphabet requested the assistance of ICAO member states, asking them in particular to establish bilateral or multilateral letters of agreement with adjacent states and Project Loon to allow Loon balloons to safely transit flight information region boundaries.

Project Loon is currently working to finalize a safety plan and set up its operations center.