The end of Project Loon: money talks

Google’s closure of Project Loon brings to an end a high-profile effort that spanned nearly a decade, four continents and an array of operator partnerships targeting disaster recovery situations through to general internet connectivity. Google has a direct interest in bringing unconnected people online, so from an aspirational and long term business perspective, the closure could be seen as a surprise. However, sustained high costs and a lack of viable commercial partnerships with mobile operators made Loon unsustainable. We examine to what extent Loon’s demise can be a read across for aerial connectivity initiatives in progress from satellite and HAPS groups.