Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), on Thursday, located and returned a downed high-altitude balloon belonging to Google's 'Project Loon', drifting at sea off the coast of Nadella, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.
According to MNDF, reports of the balloon were received by the Civil Aviation Authority at approximately 10:08 hrs on Thursday.
The balloon was spotted by members of a Dive Center operated by a local resort in the vicinity, which collected the object and notified authorities.
Following the retrieval of the balloon, MDNF's Southern Division handed over the equipment to Google's team operating in Maldives.
Loon LLC is owned by Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. and works to provide internet access to rural and remote areas. The company uses its balloons at an altitude of 18 km to 25 km in order to create an aerial wireless network with speeds up to 1 Mbps.
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