Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed the first mission for Facebook's solar-powered drone has been completed, with the device having successfully flown over the UK.
The news was announced via a blog post written by Zuckerberg, which said the drone part of Facebook's Internet.org scheme, which aims to get the world more connected has completed its first test flight.
On the official website, the Internet.org scheme is described as an "initiative bringing together technology leaders, non-profits and local communities to connect the two thirds of the world that doesn't have Internet access."
The blog post, written by Zuckerberg, says: "As part of our Internet.org effort to connect the world, we've designed unmanned aircraft that can beam internet access down to people from the sky. Today, I'm excited to share that we've successfully completed our first test flight of these aircraft in the UK.
"Aircraft like these will help connect the whole world because they can affordably serve the 10 per cent of the world's population that live in remote communities without existing internet infrastructure."
This month, Internet.org was taken to the Philippines, making it the latest location to enjoy free access to at least 24 websites Facebook offers as part of the scheme. The company hopes to launch it in 100 countries, with rollouts in India, Ghana, Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia already completed.
"More than one-half of the world is still offline," said chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. "We want to change that, which is why we're working to connect everyone through Internet.org. We've launched the Internet.org app in six countries, and nearly 7 million people have used it to get online for the first time."
