This archive report was first published on 21 April 2020.
Loon Expands Balloon Fleet in Kenya ¶
On April 21, 2020, Loon announced that a larger fleet of balloons is heading to Kenya after successful launches from Loon's launch site in Puerto Rico.
The balloons will join the eight balloons already active and part of a network integration exercise in Kenyan airspace.
Upon arrival, the balloons will continue network integration testing with Telkom Kenya, in preparation to begin serving users as quickly as possible.
The recently launched balloons are expected to gradually begin arriving above Kenya in the coming few weeks.
Loon's 4G/LTE Internet solution will seek to connect unserved and under-served communities in Kenya, with initial coverage areas identified in Nairobi, Machakos, Nyeri, Nakuru, Kitui, Nanyuki, Narok, and Kisii.
Telkom Kenya's CEO, Mugo Kibati, stated, 'These balloons will be used to expedite integration testing of this pioneer LTE service. We will glean off insights from those tests to fast track integration of all other balloons that have been dispatched from Loon Inc.'s launch sites and are to arrive in Kenya over the coming few weeks.'
Loon's CEO, Alastair Westgarth, added, 'We're extremely excited to be sending additional balloons to Kenya for further testing with Telkom, and we look forward to beginning to provide service in the near future.'
The balloons will navigate wind currents 20km above the Earth's stratosphere, making hundreds of altitude adjustments to find favourable winds to bring them to Kenya.
Loon and Telkom will work closely with local air traffic control officials and ground partners to ensure the safe and secure journey back to the ground, with extensive planning going into securing landing zones, training in-country recovery partners, and coordinating with officials on landing and recovery procedures.
