Facebook grounds Aquila, its solar-powered internet drone project

A photo of the first Aquila high altitude aircraft being built by Facebook in England. Facebook said Tuesday it was shutting down the project, four years after its start. SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook has grounded its Aquila internet drone project after four years. The project, aimed at building a drone that could fly over an isolated area and provide internet coverage, will shut down, the social media company announced Tuesday in a blog post. Facebook is abandoning efforts to build its own aircraft and will close the British facility involved in the project.