Raven Industries, Inc. announced it is involved in a pilot project with Google designed to provide high-speed wireless Internet accessibility to rural, remote and underserved areas of the world. Google plans to use Raven-designed and developed high-tech balloons as part of its new project for balloon-powered Internet access, Project Loon.

Raven Aerostar has been working for several months in close collaboration with Google on the design and development of this technology innovation. While the program is still in its early stages, a successful trial began this week in New Zealand involving 30 balloons provided by Raven Aerostar providing Internet connectivity to an area covering nearly 10,000 square kilometers.

The balloons are designed to be 60 feet tall and fly at an altitude of 66,000 feet. The teams designed sophisticated technology that can control the path of the balloons as they move through the sky. This technology moves the balloons up and down in the stratosphere so they can sail on the wind traveling in the right speed and direction. This, along with software developed by Google for managing a fleet of balloons, is a significant step in turning balloons into a viable platform for providing Internet access to rural and remote areas.