Facebook had a plan to send drones into the air in sparsely populated areas of Africa that could provide internet there. The solar cells, which capture sunlight from above the cloud cover, would allow the drones to land less frequently. In this way, Facebook could get more users in Africa.

The project called Aquila started in 2014. At the time, for 13 million euros, Facebook bought a company that worked on drones that flew on solar energy. With drones, satellites and lasers, Facebook wanted to provide internet to users.

Beforehand, the project was thought of too easily. The plan turned out to be incredibly complex. After a crash during a test flight in 2016, the project stopped. Facebook will now work with parties such as Airbus, because they had more experience with this type of project. Google is also working on providing Internet to sparsely populated areas, they do this via hot air balloons. These are easier to develop, but harder to control.