Google OK’d to launch 20 Project Loon balloons a day (Video)

Google announced this week: "We now have the ability to launch up to 20 balloons per day as we continue to improve our ability to launch consistently at scale.”

In June 2013, Google announced Project Loon, with its intention to build "a ring of balloons, flying around the glow on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below.”

Google's balloons last 10 times longer than they did previously as a result of refinements to the manufacturing process (and various unnamed discoveries that lead to fewer leaks in the balloons themselves).

Google said: "It's one thing for our balloons to last longer, but to build a ring of connectivity around the world we'll also need to get more in the air. Imagine how long it would take you and your friends to inflate 7,000 party balloons. That's what it takes to fill just one of our Loon balloons for flight, so we've developed autofill equipment that will be capable of doing it in under 5 minutes."