The ambitious venture aimed to deliver affordable internet access to unconnected, remote, and underserved areas.<\/span><\/p>\n [Read: How this company leveraged AI to become the Netflix of Finland<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n The balloons were equipped with directional antennas that transmitted signals to the ground. <\/span><\/p>\n Machine learning algorithms guided the balloons to their destination. Users of the service would then connect to the network through a special antenna attached to their building.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe idea may sound a bit crazy \u2014 and that\u2019s part of the reason we\u2019re calling it Project Loon,\u201dsaid<\/a> Project Lead Mike Cassidy when unveiling the project in 2013.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the idea has proved one moonshot too far. It nonetheless produced several breakthroughs, including a functioning mesh network in the sky and balloons that survived in the stratosphere for more than a year.<\/p>\n Some of the tech\u2019s been added to Project Taara<\/a>, which uses invisible beams of light to deliver internet connectivity \u2014 like fiber optics but without a physical cable.<\/p>\n The Loon balloon may have burst, but there\u2019s still hope that its work will help connect the unconnected.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/01\/1_pFHKdwlecM8evv-XlGp6tQ.gif\")
![\"Loon's](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/01\/Screenshot-2021-01-22-at-10.59.56.png\")