A few months after Facebook declared its plans to provide internet access to the remote areas around the world via drones, the social media giant has revealed its first solar powered drone, Aquila. Developed under Facebook’s Connectivity Lab, the drone is part of Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to connect the world to the internet through “drones, satellites and lasers”.

The drone, which has a wingspan of a Boeing 737, can fly at an altitude of between 60,000ft (18 km) and 90,000ft (27 km), higher than any commercial airliner. The solar powered drone can fly without landing for a three months at a time. The drone [...]