The former Minister for Tourism of Seychelles and President of African Tourism Board, Alain St. Ange has confirmed that a stratospheric balloon had landed in the Seychelles waters.
It was reported that a Google Loon Balloon landed close enough to one of the outlying islands of Seychelles, a mid-ocean archipelago.
Loon is a network of stratospheric balloons designed to bring internet connectivity to rural and remote communities worldwide.
Report has it that Google had expected their Loon balloon to land in the Seychelles waters and that they wanted the equipment recovered. Loon run packs of five to ten balloons. Together, they can provide an aerial mesh network (more users require more balloons) with backup balloons waiting nearby, ready to hop up.
The balloons are designed to extend connectivity to billions around the world and their network travel on the edge of space delivering the needed connectivity to unserved communities around the world. Loon partners with mobile network operators globally to expand the reach of their LTE service.
One of their balloons that landed in Seychelles waters was recovered by workers on one of the islands and brought to shore.
Alain St. Ange said that as far as possible it is believed that the crash landing in Seychelles was the Google Loon Stratospheric Balloon and that its was not any satellite or spacecraft.
Seychelles is a group of some 115 islands with both granitic and coral islands situated in the Indian Ocean just four degrees south of the equator.
